2024 Irish motoring stats

The big loses in the sales charts were the all-electric BEVs, dropping by 24% from 22,852 registrations in 2023 to 17,459 in 2024. Petrol cars remain dominant, accounting for 30% of sales followed by diesel at 23%, Hybrid 21%, Electric 14% and Plug-in Hybrids at 10%. Two-thirds of all cars sold in 2024 had automatic transmissions, and hatchbacks continued as the top selling body type.

In terms of county performance, Donegal comes out just behind Leitrim at the top of the sales chart showing an increase of 7.25% in 2024 over 2023. In all, 2,765 new cars were sold here, taking just over 2.0% of the total Irish sales.

With regards to electric cars, sales in each county fell in all cases by double figures, ranging from 10% to 44% reductions. County Donegal recorded 208 new BEV sales in 2024 compared to 305 in 2023, a drop of 32%.

Overall, car sales increased in the months of January, February, October, November and December, falling below 2023 figures in the remaining months. Considering manufacturers, Toyota dominated taking over 14% of total Irish sales, followed by Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundai and Kia in the Top Five. Despite their placings, both Volkswagen and Hyundai showed a small drop in sales compared to the previous year. Further down the sales chart in 9th place was Ford showing a 28% drop in sales in 2024 compared to 2023.

Despite our dependence on the motor car, it would appear that many disregard their safe maintenance as they get older. The latest figures from the operator of the National Car Testing Service (NCT) indicate that almost half of cars failed the test in 2024 with defective tyres the most common cause of failure.

A total of 1,732,095 vehicles were put through a full NCT last year, with just over half (50.6%) passing on the first attempt. Almost 129,000 were listed as ‘Failed Dangerous’ indicating that they were likely to cause an accident and should not have been on the road in their current condition.

Overall, 231,212 vehicles failed their NCT in 2024 due to having defective tyres. Tyre pressure, tread depth, and sidewall damage all form part of the NCTS’s tyre inspections. Front suspension (191,481), steering (147,868), brakes (126,444), and bodywork (106,288) were the other main causes for an NCT visual failure last year.

Overshadowing all, are the statistics from the Road Safety Authority (RSA) which highlights the 174 deaths on Irish roads in 2024, down only marginally from the 181 road deaths in 2023.

Dublin (23), Cork (19), Mayo (19) and Donegal (17) were the counties that recorded the highest number of deaths, accounting for 45 per cent of the total fatalities. The Government has an aim of reducing the number of deaths and serious injuries on Irish roads by 50% by 2030 with lower speed limits on rural roads due to be introduced in the near future.