Hybrid Vehicles Combine for over 50% of May New Car Market

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) released their official 231 new vehicle registrations statisticsforMay.

New car registrations for themonthofMaywereup 42.7% (7,557) when comparedtoMay2022(5,295).

Registrations year to date are up 18.2% (74,542) on the same period last year (63,057).

Light Commercial vehicles (LCV) are up 76.2%(2,528)comparedto May last year (1,435) and year to date are up 31.1% (16,255). HGV (Heavy Goods Vehicle) registrations are also showing an increase of 11.9% (217) in comparison to May 2022 (194).

Year to date HGV's are up 35.6% (1,424). ImportedUsedCarsseena 14.9% (4,486) increase in May2023,whencompared to May 2022 (3,905). Year to date imports are up 5.2% (20,797) on 2022 (19,766).

For the month of May 1,725newelectricvehicles were registered compared to 743 in May 2022 (+132.2). So far this year 12,875 new electric cars have been registered in comparison to +55.9% (8,258)onthesameperiod 2022. Electric Vehicles, Plug-in Hybrids and Hybrids continue to increase their market share, with a combined market share (year to date) now of 42.74%.

Petrolremainsdominant at 32.36%, with Diesel accounting for 22.17%, Hybrid 17.51%, Electric 17.27% and Plug-in ElectricHybrid7.96%.

Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General commenting “New car sales in- creasedagaininMaywhen compared to the same month last year, and now new cars sales are edging closer to Pre-COVID levels.Someeasingofsupplydifficultieshasresulted in improvement in delivery times, and this has led toasignificantgrowthparticularlyinElectricVehicle (EV)registrations.”

“YeartodateEVsalesare now 56% ahead of last year, representing over 17%ofthenewcarmarket. During the month of May nearly one-in-four new cars sold were electric, outperformingdieselsales forthemonth.”

“Further analysis of the registrations highlights that when we combine Electric Vehicles, Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles (PHEVs) and Hybrids, which use battery technology for driving, they account for