Mayo new car registrations mirror national results

With 1,323 cars registered up to the end of April, Mayo is mirroring the country at large with a 2.16% increase in the figures compared to the same period last year.

The 261 statistics just released by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that new car registrations for April were up 17.0% (10,184) compared to April 2025 (8,707) and year to date are up 2.1% (75,074) on the same period last year (73,491).

Light commercial vehicles (LCV) registrations decreased by 3% (2,450) compared to April last year (2,525) but year to date are up 14.2% (18,101).

In the heavy goods vehicle (HGV) sector, registrations are down 20.5% (221) in comparison to April 2025 (278) and year to date are down 9.5% (1,191).

Imported used cars have seen a 43.1% (7,510) rise in April 2026 when compared to April 2025 (5,248). Year to date, imports are up 40.1% (31,154) on 2025 (22,235).

In April, 2,779 new battery electric cars were registered, which was 109.7% higher than the 1,335 registrations in April 2025. So far this year, 16,779 new electric cars have been registered, representing a 48.5% increase compared to the same period in 2025, when 11,299 electric cars were registered.

In the new car market share by propulsion type, hybrid (petrol-electric) leads at 26.67% as the most popular, followed by electric (22.35%), petrol (21.25%), plug-in hybrid (14.41%) and diesel 12.96%.

Commenting on the figures, SIMI director general Brian Cooke said: “The strong performance in BEV sales is driven by private consumers, who account for 77% of sales, with this sector of the market being supported by strong government incentives.

“However, the BEV’s new car market share of 22% is still below the level required to meet national climate targets. The momentum behind the EV project is there, and we must build on this. Now is not the time to reduce supports.

“The government must maintain and extend current incentives for consumers and businesses while investing in infrastructure, along with a range of targeted measures to encourage widespread EV adoption before 2030.”

The five top selling new car brands so far this year are: Toyota, Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundai and Kia. The five top selling new car models are: Toyota Yaris Cross, Hyundai Tucson, Kia Sportage, Skoda Kodiaq and Toyota Corolla. The top selling vehicle last month was the Toyota RAV4.