# Total number of new cars licensed in May rose by 32 per cent from 8,403 to 11,063.

*robotics · news · 2026-06-10 · The Irish Times*

## Key points

- The number of new electric cars registered in May increased by 118 percent year-on-year.
- Electric vehicles made up 24 percent of all new cars licensed from January to May, up from 16 percent.
- The share of petrol and diesel cars among new registrations dropped from 44 percent to 34 percent.
- Toyota was the top new car brand in May, with Volkswagen ID4 leading new electric car registrations.

The number of new electric cars registered in May more than doubled when compared the same month last year as diesel continued to decline in popularity, new data from the Central Statistics Office shows. The total number of new cars licensed in the month rose by 32 per cent from 8,403 to 11,063. There were 3,010 electric cars registered for the first time in the month, which represented an increase of 118 per cent on the 1,382 registered in May last year. The share of electric vehicles (EVs) among new cars from January to May was up from 16 per cent to 24 per cent. The share of EVs among used cars over the same period was 10 per cent compared with 4 per cent in the same five months of 2025. There was a 52 per cent rise in new EVs licensed over the period, up from 11,877 to 18,041. On in four all new cars licensed between January and May was electric. There was also an increase in the licensing of hybrid vehicles in May, up 55 per cent from 1,763 to 2,727. The number of new plug-in hybrid electric vehicles licensed decreased by 2 per cent to 1,389. Their year-to-date share among new cars was flat at 15 per cent. [ How can Ireland solve its dismal electric vehicle charging infrastructure?Opens in new window ] Meanwhile, the number of used cars licensed rose by 22 per cent from 6,144 to 7,519. There were 1,475 used diesel cars licensed compared with 1,539, while petrol cars went up by 6 per cent from 2,588 to 2,739. The combined share of new petrol and diesel cars from January to May was down from 44 per cent to 34 per cent. There was a fall of 19 per cent in the number of new petrol cars licensed over the same period, from 19,717 to 15,952. Similarly, there was a 22 per cent decrease in the number of new diesel cars licensed from 12,485 to 9,749. The total number of new goods vehicles licensed for the first time in May was down 9 per cent to 3,135. There were 17,147 new goods vehicles licensed from January to May, which was an increase of 12 per cent on the 15,312 licensed over the same period of 2025. The data shows Toyota was the most popular make of new car licensed in May at 2,011 vehicles, followed by Volkswagen (1,679), Skoda (1,483), Kia (621), and Hyundai (604). Together, these five makes represented 58 per cent of all new cars licensed. The most popular brand of new electric car licensed was the Volkswagen ID4 (341), followed by the Skoda Enyaq (182) and the Skoda Elroq (175).

**Companies:** Toyota, Volkswagen, Skoda, Kia, Hyundai
**Countries:** Ireland

[Read the full story on The Irish Times](https://www.irishtimes.com/business/2026/06/10/electric-vehicle-rise-continues-as-consumers-continue-to-move-away-from-diesel/)

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