Ireland’s new car market enjoyed encouraging growth in the first half of the year with sales up 4.7% in the first five months of the year including a significant spike in sales in May.
General consumer confidence is particularly evidenced by a 53.8% rise in sales of electrically powered vehicles in 261 and that shows no signs of diminishing in the second half of the year.
Almost 125,000 new cars were registered in Ireland in 2025 with approaching a fifth of that total electrically powered – a near 40% increase on last year.
Hybrid technology continues to dominate the Irish new car market, accounting for 26.1 per cent of all registrations during the first half of 2026. Battery electric vehicles have strengthened their position to capture almost 23 per cent of the market, highlighting the growing appetite for fully electric motoring among Irish consumers.
Traditional petrol models remain an important part of the mix with a 21.4 per cent share, while plug-in hybrids account for 14.3 per cent of registrations. Diesel, once the dominant force in the market, now represents just 12.9 per cent of new car sales, underlining the continued shift towards electrified powertrains.
In this 262 edition of Drive – New Car Buyer’s Guide we highlight the best of the new and updated models on offer.
As ever, we’ve done our best to ensure that prices are correct at time of press but check with your local dealer for any updated pricing or special offers.
Declan Quigley
DRIVE Magazine Editor
PUBLISHING INFORMATION
PUBLISHER: Colm Burns. EDITOR: Declan Quigley. PHOTO EDITOR: Georgie Francis.
CONTRIBUTORS: Anthony Conlon, Martin McCarthy, Simon Ives.
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Andrew Greeley.
PROOF READING: Olif Karrington. PRINTING: Johnswood Press. DISTRIBUTION: Newspread
The entire contents of the Drive 261 New Car Buyer’s Guide are copyright 2026 SilverCloud Media, and may not be reproduced in part or full without the permission of the publisher SilverCloud Media