New car sales up 18.5% in March with electric cars on the rise again

Michael McAleer

New car sales were up by 18.5 per cent in March, pushing the market so far this year to 64,824 new registrations, an increase of 3.7 per cent on the same three-month period last year.

Electric car sales growth has recovered this year, with sales up 26 per cent at 9,978, accounting for 15.4 per cent of all new car sales.

Petrol engines remain the most popular choice, accounting for 28 per cent of sales, while regular hybrids make up 24 per cent, followed by diesel with 17 per cent. Plug-in hybrids account for another 14 per cent.

Toyota is the best-selling car brand this year, with 9,755 registrations, ahead of Volkswagen with 6,692 and Hyundai with 6,286. The Korean brand has the most popular new car, with its Tucson recording 2,830 sales, ahead of Toyota's Yaris Cross with 2,080.

In the electric car market, Volkswagen is the best-selling brand with 1,554 sales, ahead of Kia with 1,430 and Hyundai with 874. The best-selling EV model is the VW ID.4 with 996, followed by the Tesla Model 3 with 656.

Despite the ongoing pressure on Tesla from protesters targeting its boss Elon Musk over his work with the Trump administration in the US, the brand is still recording sales of 872 new cars so far this year, up 5 per cent on last year.

In the commercial vehicle market, van sales are down 13 per cent so far this year, with 13,352 registrations, while commercial truck sales are down 11 per cent with 1,181 sales. Both markets are often viewed as indicators of confidence or concerns within business about the state of the economy.