Irish Car Market in 2025 stays on upward trend. Full-year sales gained 2.9%, with Volkswagen and BMW reporting largest gains while Nissan fell 21.1% out of the Top 10. EVs gained 46.1%, with Tesla soon to be overtaken in 2nd by BYD.
Economic Environment
In 2025, Ireland’s economy is projected to expand sharply by 10.2%, largely reflecting the front-loading of pharmaceutical exports ahead of higher US tariffs, which temporarily boosted headline GDP. As these one-off effects unwind and trade barriers weigh more heavily, growth is expected to slow markedly to 2.1% in 2026 before strengthening to 2.8% in 2027 as uncertainty gradually eases. Underlying domestic demand, excluding volatile multinational activity, remains more stable but is also set to moderate, supported by a still-tight labour market, continued, though slowing, job creation and solid real income gains.
Fiscal policy is expansionary in 2025–26, driven primarily by higher public spending on housing, healthcare, transport and welfare, alongside targeted tax measures, but this stance increases reliance on volatile corporate tax receipts from multinationals despite a strong headline fiscal position and declining public debt. Inflationary pressures have re-emerged, particularly in food, energy and services, pushing inflation above 2.5% in 2025, with a gradual easing expected only as supply constraints diminish.
Automotive Industry Trend and Outlook
Thanks to a favourable economic outlook, the Irish car market mantained sustained growth throughout all of 2025. Full-year figures grew by 2.9% and reached 125,153 units.
Brand-wise, the leader remained Toyota with a 13.5% share (-3.7%), followed by Volkswagen in 2nd (+6.8%) and Skoda in 3rd (+0.6%).Hyundai ranked 4th (+3.3%) while Kia closed the Top 5 (+7.2%).
Notably, Nissan fell 21.1% from 7th to 12th.
Looking at specific models the Toyota Corolla became new leader, gaining 5.4% in year-on-year volume, followed by last year’s leader, the Hyundai Tucson, down by 12%. The Skoda Octavia ranked in 3rd, dropping by 16.9%.
EV Market Trend and Outlook
Irish EV Sector expands thanks to continued support, such as grants from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland. EVs rose by 46.1% in 2025, reaching a share of about 16% on total units sold.
Volkswagen -up 1 spot- was the sector leader while growing 27.7%, followed by Tesla, which fell 1 spot in 2nd (-5.4%) and BYD in 3rd (+79.9%).
Medium-Term Market Trend
The Irish car market experienced notable fluctuations over the past decade. Starting at 96,282 units in 2014, it peaked at 146,602 in 2016. However, from 2017 to 2019, the market declined due to Brexit-related uncertainty and a surge in used car imports from the UK. The COVID-19 pandemic further hit the sector, dropping registrations to 88,607 in 2020, the decade’s lowest. A recovery followed in 2021, with an 18.6% increase, continuing to 121,998 units by 2023. In 2024, the market stagnated, slipping 1% to 121,195 units, as consumer uncertainty and a sharp rise in used imports weighed on growth.
Ireland’s EV market stayed below 1% share until 2019 but grew rapidly in 2021, peaking at 18.7% in 2023. In 2024, EV sales fell 24%, dropping market share to 14.4%, impacted by reduced grants, resale value concerns, and supply chain issues, though a late-year rebound offers optimism for 2025.
In the tables below we report sales for all Brands and top 10 Manufacturers Group.
