The number of new cars licensed in August rose by 27% compared with the same time last year, the latest Central Statistics Office figures show today.
The CSO said that the number of new cars licensed last month rose to 11,328 from 8,942 in August 2022.
For the first eight months of the year, a total of 102,600 new cars have been licensed, up 19% on the same time last year.
Today's figures show that the number of new electric cars licensed jumped by 64% from 11,618 in the first eight months of 2022 to 19,021 in the first eight months of this year.
19% of all new cars licensed for the first time were electric during the first eight months of the year compared with 13% in the same period in 2022, the CSO noted.
In the months from January to August of this year, 34,445 new cars licensed were petrol cars compared with 25,442 in the same period in 2022, an increase of 35%.
But new diesel cars licensed decreased by 4% over the same time.
The CSO reported that the number of used cars or imported cars licensed in the first eight months of 2023 increased by 5% compared with the same time in 2022 - 33,359 compared to 31,762.
Today's CSO figures show that Volkswagen was the most popular make of new private car licensed in August, followed by Hyundai, Toyota, Skoda and Kia.
These five makes represent 51% of all new private cars licensed in August, the CSO noted
