New figures from the Central Statistics Office show that the number of new cars licensed in February of this year slowed down by 3% compared with the same month last year.
But sales of electric vehicles continued to increase last month.
Today's CSO figures reveal that the number of new electric cars licensed for the first time jumped by 26% from 3,642 in the first two months of 2022 to 4,583 in the same time in 2023.
15% of all new cars licensed in the first two months of 2023 were electric compared with 12% in the same two month period in 2022.
The number of new private cars licensed in February fell by 3% from 13,643 to 13,284, while the number of used private cars licensed rose by 1% from 3,929 to 3,986.
The CSO said that 22% of new private cars licensed in the first two months of 2023 were diesel compared with almost 24% the same time last year.
It also noted that the share of electric cars in the total number of new cars licensed grew from 1% in 2018 to 15% 2022, while at the same time, the share of diesel cars is falling.
In 2018, 54% of all new cars licensed were diesel cars compared with 27% in 2022.
Toyota was the most popular make of new private car licensed in February 2023, followed by Hyundai, Volkswagen, Kia and Skoda.
Together, these five makes represent 51% of all new private cars licensed in February, the CSO said.
