Car sales in Mayo remain steady despite national decline
Sales of electric vehicles (EVs) have increased in Mayo in the first two months of 2025 but they still account for fewer than 10% of the new car market, according to the latest report from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI)
A total of 845 new registrations were recorded in the county up to the end of February, which is marginally down on the 850 new vehicles sold by motor dealers during the same period last year. EV sales accounted for just 84 of the new registrations, but that figure is significantly up on the 58 EVs sold in the first two months of 2024.
Nationally, there were 14,012 new vehicle registrations in February, which is down by 15% compared to February 2024 when 16,432 were sold. Registrations year to date are down by 0.8% (47,483) on the same period last year (47,850).
The national trend is replicated in counties Sligo and Roscommon where sales are down by almost 6%. Motor dealers in Sligo have sold 460 new cars in the first two months of the year compared to 489 last year, while dealers in Roscommon have sold 454 new vehicles compared to 481 in 2024.
It is a very different outlook in Co Galway, however, where sales of new vehicles have soared by almost 8%, from 1,918 in January/February 2024 to 2,066 this year. The total number of new registrations in Galway exceeds the other four Connacht counties combined.
Petrol cars continue to lead the new car market at 27.88%, followed by hybrid (petrol-electric) at 23.76%, diesel at 16.65%, electric at 15.68%, and plug-in electric hybrid at 14.30%.
There were 5,599 imported used cars in February 2025, a 13.2% rise compared to February 2024 (4,946). Year-to-date imports are up 9.1% to 11,203, from 10,271 in 2024.
In February, 2,524 new EVs were registered, which was 36% higher than the 1,856 registrations in February 2024. So far this year, 7,447 new EVs have been registered, representing a 25.1% increase compared to the same period in 2024 when 5,949 EVs were registered.
