Mayo had the poorest uptake in electric cars last year, according to end-of-year figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).
The number of new electric cars in the county increased by just 12.2% in 2023 compared to a national average of 45%. Some counties along the western seaboard recorded multiples of Mayo’s total, including Clare (68%, Galway (30%) and Donegal (28%). Only Tipperary (12.8%) had a comparable figure, although Roscommon (15%) and Sligo (16.7%) were well behind the national average too.
In real terms, the number of new electric vehicles sold in Mayo increased from 220 in 2022 to 247 in 2023, which represented 12% of the total number of new vehicles (2,045) sold in the county throughout the year. However, the motor trade in Mayo was far less buoyant than in other counties in the country. The overall number of new cars sold increased by 5.7%, from 1,934 to 2,045, but the rate of growth was well behind the national average (16%) and also trailed Roscommon (12%), Sligo (7.8%) and Galway (6.9%).
In Roscommon, the number of new registrations increased from 1,003 in 2022 to 1,124 in 2023, while in Sligo, there were 1,116 new cars sold last year compared to 1,035 a year earlier. Galway continues to dominate the car market in Connacht with more cars sold there than in the other four counties combined. Some 4,801 cars were sold in Galway City and County in 2023 compared to 4,491 in 2022.
Nationally, new car sales in 2023 totalled 121,850 compared to 105,398 in 2022. Dublin accounted for almost half of all new car sales in the country with 53,759 sold in 2023, a massive increase of 28% on the 41,811 cars sold in 2022.
Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General, said: “2023 was a year of progress for the Irish motor industry, both in terms of new vehicle registrations and electric vehicle sales. New car registrations finished at 121,850 units, 4% ahead of pre-Covid 2019. The growth in electric vehicle sales continued into 2023, with an increase in market share from 15% in 2022 to nearly 19% in 2023. This represented a 45% increase in EV sales for the year.”