The number of new cars registered in the republic is 19.1 percent higher in the first nine months than in the same period of the previous year.
However, car registrations fell by 11.7 percent compared to January to September 2019.
A total of 100,646 new vehicles have been registered so far this year, compared to 85,515 in the same nine months in 2020 and 113,945 in 2019.
New figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that the number of new cars registered last month fell 22 percent, but was 29.5 percent higher than in September 2019.
A total of 4,426 new car registrations were registered last month, compared to 5,651 in September 2020 and 3,418 in September 2019.
In the year to date, 7,827 new electric vehicles (EV) have been registered, 117 percent more than in the same period in 2020. In the past month, 775 new electric vehicles were registered, 18 percent more than in September 2020 with 659 registered vehicles.
Electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and hybrids continue to increase their market share. Together they make up 31.2 percent of the market, compared to 33.8 percent for diesel cars and 32.3 percent for gasoline-powered vehicles.
Last month, 4,952 used cars were imported, compared to 9,520 in September 2020. In the year to date, used car imports have increased by 4 percent to 51,136 compared to 2020, but by 38 percent compared to the 82,435 registered cars in the first nine months of 2019.
So far this year, 26,533 light commercial vehicles have been registered, 40 percent more than in the same period of the previous year. The truck registrations are 25.5 percent above the previous year’s figure.
SIMI noted the surge in electric vehicle sales and urged the government to provide reassurance and support to consumers in the 2020 budget to reduce carbon emissions.
The price of all-electric cars could rise by around € 4,100 under the 2021 budget tax changes recently proposed by the Treasury’s Tax Strategy Group
“The EV numbers this year speak for themselves; industry supplied the cars and government created the incentives so consumers can make strong environmental choices. By sticking to this path, we can continue to help the retail environment cut emissions, ”said Cooke.
