Press Statement

Preasráiteas

09 November 2020

Go to release: Vehicles licensed for the first time October 2020

The Central Statistics Office (CSO) has today (09 November 2020) published Vehicle Licensing figures for October 2020. These figures are based on the National Vehicle and Driver File compiled by the Department of Transport.

Today’s publication shows that the number of new cars licensed for the first time in October 2020 was 4,189 compared to 3,214 in October 2019, an increase of 30.3%. However, the number of new cars licensed in the first 10 months of 2020 was 81,809 compared to 110,900 in 2019, a decrease of 26.2%.

Commenting on the data, Olive Loughnane, Statistician, said: ‘Today’s figures from the CSO show the continued growth in the number of electric and hybrid vehicles licensed in Ireland. Despite the drop of 26.2% in the overall number of new cars licensed from January to October 2020, the number of new hybrid and electric cars licensed in that period now exceeds the number licensed for all of 2019 by 12.5%. The number of new electric cars licensed from January to October 2020 grew by 20.0% from 3,119 to 3,744. There were 12,386 new hybrid cars licensed in the first ten months of 2020, compared with 10,742 with the same period in 2019.’

Further commenting on the results, Olive Loughnane said: ‘The number of new cars licensed in October 2020 shows an increase of 30.3% compared to October 2019. The year-to-date picture is less positive. Data for the period, shows that the number of new cars licensed was 29,091 lower than in the same period of 2019, a drop of 26.2%. This fall is due to the very low numbers licensed during the peak of the COVID-19 crisis. The number of used cars licensed in October declined by 12.8% but decreases in the number of used cars licensed were evident prior to the onset of the COVID-19 crisis.'

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