New car registration In Ireland may have fallen by 16% in March, compared month on month to last year, but how does the performance of the Irish market compare to some of the major European countries?  

In France new car sales also fell in March, but only by 1.5% year on year. Petrol car sales dropped by around 18%, month on month, while diesels were down 32%. Mild hybrid, recorded separately in France, were up 26%, Standard hybrids were best performing up by 32%, while battery electric vehicle sales were up by almost 11%, meaning they represented 19% of the market. 
  
In Italy, hybrids were also the top performers, although over all, the total market was down by 3.7% in March. Hybrid sales were up by 8.3%, taking a 38% market share. Petrol sales were actually up by 5.7%, however, diesel was down by 5%. The slow take up of BEVs in Italy was reflected by a year on year drop of 34%, meaning pure electric accounted for only 3.3% of the Italian market. A lack of charging infrastructure appears to be the main obstacle to BEV adoption. 

In Spain, March new car sales were down by 4.7% in March, ending 14 months of growth. Battery Electric registrations were down by 2.7% year on year meaning a 4.4% market share. Petrol sales were down by 10% and diesels down by 38%. 

By comparison in Ireland, March saw 2,009 new electric cars registered, a drop of 41.1% compared with March 2023. Year to date, pure EV sales are down 14.3%. Petrol car sales were 14.5% up in March, diesel increased by 8.6% and hybrid by 19.2% compared to March 2023. 

The sharp decline in sales in Ireland in March can be partly accounted for by the effects of an early Easter and extended St Patrick’s Day celebrations, but do indicate a continued reluctance on the part of buyers to commit to new car purchases. Year to date it is also worth noting that used car imports are 24% up and at the end of March accounted for 15,487 units, a figure that equates to almost a quarter of the new car market. 

Perhaps the big story from all markets is that while battery electric vehicles are still the main focus of government, car makers and media attention, it is hybrid vehicles that are selling in the biggest numbers right across Europe. This supports the view held by many observers, that hybrid provides a flexible and natural transition towards an electric fleet and provides consumers with an important option while charging infrastructure improvements are made and driver acceptance grows. 

While supporting statistics are not available, there also appears to be a small but significant percentage of drivers in Ireland who made the early switch to battery electric and have not had a positive experience, meaning a likely switch to hybrid.