New Mayo vehicle registrations rise by 5.7 percent in 2023

THE total number of new car registrations in Mayo rose by 5.7 percent in 2023 with electric car registrations rising by 12 percent in the county.

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) released their official new vehicle registrations statistics for 2023 with 2,045 new registrations recorded in Mayo, a rise of 5.74 percent compared to 2022.

Nationally, the total new car registrations for 2023, finished at 121,850, an increase of 16 percent on 2022 with Mayo registrations making up a 1.68 percent share of the market.

There was also an increase in the number of electric vehicles registered in Mayo with 247 registered in 2023 a rise of 12.27 percent on 2022 when a total of 220 vehicles were registered. A total of 22,789 new electric cars were registered in 2023 throughout the country, an increase of 45.4 percent on the 15,678 registrations seen in 2022 and a further increase of 561.7 percent on the 3,444 registrations in 2019.

Toyota remains the most popular car brand in Ireland for new car sales in 2023 followed by Volkswagen, Hyundai, Skoda and Kia while the top new car model for 2023 was the Hyundai Tucson.

The Volkswagen ID 4 was the top selling new Electric Vehicle (EV) and was also the fifth top new car model for 2023. The next most popular EV was the Tesla Model Y followed by the Skoda Enyaq, Hyundai Ioniq 5 and the MG4.

Commenting on the 2023 figures, Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General said that 2023 was a year of progress for the Irish Motor Industry, both in terms of new vehicle registrations and electric vehicle sales.

“New car registrations finished at 121,850 units, up 16 percent on last year and 4 percent ahead of pre-Covid 2019. The growth in electric vehicle sales continued into 2023, with an increase in market share from 15 percent in 2022 to nearly 19 percent in 2023.This represented a 45 percent increase in EV sales for the year. We do expect to see some growth in EV sales again in 2024, but key to this will be the ongoing Government support, both in terms of vehicle and taxation incentives and investment in a fit for purpose charging infrastructure.

“The mix in the new car market however, from electric to hybrid to more traditional engine types, highlights the diverse nature of Irish motorists’ driving requirements, and reducing the age of the national fleet, as well as moving to zero emission vehicles, will be vital if we want to get close to Ireland’s climate goals. The commercial vehicle sector both light and heavy vehicles, also delivered a solid performance in 2023. Light commercial vehicles finished 25 percent ahead of last year and Heavy Goods Vehicles saw a 20 percent increase on 2022,” he said.

The market share for 2023 saw Petrol account for 30.07 percent of vehicle registrations followed by Diesel at 22.16 percent, Electric 18.7 percent, Hybrid 18.54 percent and Plug-In Hybrid 8.28 percent. Petrol continues to remain the most popular engine type for 2023, while Electric, Hybrid, and Plug-in Hybrid account for 45.5 percent of the market.

Automatic transmissions now account for 64.54 percent of the market share, while manual transmissions have declined to 35.35 percent. The hatchback continues to remain Ireland’s top selling car body type of 2023 while grey retains the top selling colour title for the eight year running.