The latest figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry show that new car registrations for November were up 22% compared to the same month last year - rising to 1,123 from 921.
But registrations year to date are down 1% to 120,783 from 122,055 the same time last year.
Today's figures show that 516 new electric cars were registered last month - a 59.3% jump on the 324 registrations in November 2023.
So far this year, 17,168 new electric cars have been registered - a 24.2% decrease on the same time in 2023 when 22,653 electric cars were registered.
Meanwhile, imported used cars saw a 2.4% rise in November to 4,964 from the November 2023 figure of 4,846.
Year-to-date imports are up 23.5% to 58,410 from 47,307 the same time in 2023.
SIMI noted that petrol cars continue to lead the new car market at 30.38%, followed by diesel at 22.86%, then hybrid (petrol electric) at 20.95%, electric at 14.21% and plug-in electric hybrid at 10.05%.
Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General, noted that both light and heavy commercial vehicle registrations saw a decline in sales for November, but activity so far this year remains ahead for the commercial fleets.
"Hopefully, we are starting to turn a corner for electric vehicles following a very challenging year. With this in mind, the new Programme for Government must include increased support for the EV project, strong investment in incentives and in the charging infrastructure," Brian Cooke said.
"As we approach the final few weeks of 2024, the industry's focus is now firmly on its key selling period at the start of 2025 with generous incentives for customers to buy new cars across all brands and all market segments, members are hopeful for the busy start to 2025," he added.
Today's figures show that the five top selling new car brands in 2024 are Toyota, Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundi and Kia.
The top new car model so far this year are the Hyundi Tucson, the Skoda Octavia, the Kia Sportage, the Toyota Rav 4 and the Toyota Yaris Cross.
Meanwhile the top selling car in November was the Tesla Model 3, while it was also the top selling electric car.
