New figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) show that new car registrations jumped 9.9% in February when compared to the same month last year.
The figures show that 13,161 cars were registered last month, compared to 11,971 in February 2022.
However, new car sales are still 13% behind pre-Covid levels in February 2019.
So far this year 40,476 new cars have been registered, up 9.4% on the same two month period last year.
2,219 new electric vehicles were registered last month, up over 37% on the same month in 2022.
So far this year 5,893 new electric cars have been registered in comparison to 4,311 on the same period last year.
Electric vehicle and plug-in hybrids and hybrids continue to increase their market share, with a combined market share now of 41%.
Internal combustion engine type vehicles remain dominant with petrol accounting for 32.48%, diesel 23.32%, hybrid 19.16%, electric 14.56% and plug-in electric hybrid 7.59%.
"Electric Vehicles (EVs) continue to outperform the market," said Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General.
"Increased supply, strong Government supports and the State's commitment to investing in charging infrastructure, are all essential elements in encouraging the transition to electric.
"Drilling into the EV sales patterns, it is important to highlight private customers, who still benefit from the SEAI Grant, account for 75% of EV sales so far this year, with these sales increasing by over 40% when compared to last year," he added.
On the other hand, he said sales of new EVs to companies, which don’t benefit from the grant support, and which now attract a higher level of BIK since January, are slightly down on last year.
"This underlines the importance of the grant and it is vital that we that we don’t interrupt consumer momentum by continuing this support at current levels beyond June," he said.
Today's data reveals that the Kia Sportage was the top Selling Car in February, while the Volkswagen ID.4 was the top selling electric vehicle.
