New figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that car sales, including electric vehicles, slowed down in June.
The latest SIMI figures show that new car registrations for June were down by 50% to 1,499 compared to 2,990 the same time last year.
However registrations so far this year up 1.7% to 78,942 on the 77,602 the same month last year.
SIMI said that 692 new electric cars were registered in June - a drop of 52% on the 1,432 registrations in June 2023.
So far this year, 10,747 new electric cars have been registered, which marks a 25% decrease compared to the same period in 2023 when 14,307 electric cars were registered.
Petrol cars lead the new car market at 32.96%, followed by diesel at 22.89%, then hybrid (petrol electric) at 20.11%, electric at 13.61% and plug-in electric hybrid at 8.83%.
Today's figures also show that imported used cars rose by 22.2% to 5,165 in June of this year compared to the 4,228 registered the same time last year. Year to date imports are up 25.4% to 31,372 from 25,025 in 2023.
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Today's figures show that the five top selling new car brands in June were Toyota, Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundair and Kia.
The five biggest selling new car models were the Hyundai Tucson, the Skoda Octavia, the Kia Sportage, the Toyota Rav 4 and the Toyota Yaris Cross.
Meanwhile, the five top selling EV brands were Volkswagen, Tesla, Hyundai, BYD and Kia, while the five top selling EV models were the Volkswagen ID.4, the Tesla Model Y, the Tesla Model 3, the Hyundai Kona and the MG.
Commenting on today's figures, Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General, said the decline in the new EV car market continues to highlight the need for Government to support the EV transition, with ways to incentivise the market for both private and company car buyers.
"Extending consumer incentives and Benefit-in-Kind support, along with investment in charging infrastructure will build consumer and business confidence and encourage uptake," Mr Cooke said.
"Retailers remain optimistic as we enter the 242-registration plate sales period, and with new models coming to the market along with variety of attractive offers are positive that this will help to boost sales activity in July, the second busiest month for new car sales," he added.
