Top 10: Irish car sales 2019

117,100 new cars were registered in Ireland during 2019. That figure, published by the Society of the Irish Motor Industry, represents a 6.8% decline on 2018’s total.

The shift away from diesel appeared to slow somewhat but, as can be seen below, customer preferences continued to alter. Indeed, for the first time in a long while, diesel’s mix slipped below half (falling from 54.4% in 2018 to 46.6% in 2019). Conversely, the ‘alternative’ categories all experienced significant growth.

Irish Car Registrations 2019 - By Powertrain Type
Powertrain	2019	2018	+/-	% +/-
Diesel	54,547	68,367	-13,820	-20.2%
Petrol	47,569	48,405	-836	-1.7%
HEV	10,194	6,927	+3,267	+47.2%
PHEV	1,346	739	+607	+82.1%
BEV	3,444	1,233	+2,211	+179.3%
Total	117,100	125,671	-8,571	-6.8%
Of which: Alternative	14,984	8,899	+6,085	+68.4%
‘Alternative’ comprises non-plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV).
Figures provided by SIMI Motorstats

The top ten manufacturers remained the same as for 2018, although there were a couple of mid-table place swaps.

Volkswagen maintained the overall lead with an 11.5% market share, thanks mainly to the arrival of the T-Cross as well as a higher number of T-Roc and Tiguan deliveries. However, strong performances by those three SUVs couldn’t fully offset fewer Golf and Jetta sales.

Volkswagen T-Cross

The Toyota Auris compact was replaced by an all-new Corolla in 2019. Combined, they achieved a net gain of 322 units versus 2018, but that was almost negated by diminished Yaris retails.

Nissan slipped from fifth spot in 2018 to sixth in 2019 for two key reasons. Firstly, Juke registrations were down by 693 to 151 (because it was in the process of being replaced) and, secondly, the discontinued Pulsar dropped by 866 to 127.

Interestingly, only three of the brands shown on this list – Peugeot, Škoda and Toyota – managed to post volume increases compared to the previous year.

Top 10: Irish Car Registrations 2019 - By Manufacturer
Position	Manufacturer	2019	2018	+/-	% +/-
1	Volkswagen	13,508	13,775	-267	-1.9%
2	Toyota	12,123	12,037	+86	+0.7%
3	Hyundai	11,053	11,633	-580	-5.0%
4	Ford	9,626	11,306	-1,680	-14.9%
5	Škoda	9,300	9,116	+184	+2.0%
6	Nissan	8,203	9,701	-1,498	-15.4%
7	Renault	6,550	7,176	-626	-8.7%
8	Kia	6,453	7,326	-873	-11.9%
9	Peugeot	5,634	5,596	+38	+0.7%
10	Audi	4,582	4,919	-337	-6.9%
Figures provided by SIMI Motorstats

The aforementioned Corolla immediately became the country’s most popular model. Hyundai’s Tuscon assumed the runner-up position, the Qashqai kept third and the Tiguan was elevated from sixth to fourth.

Toyota Corolla Touring Sports

Ford didn’t do brilliantly. The Focus suffered a major downturn (moving from fourth to eighth in the process), plus the Fiesta failed to make the top ten by just 31 cars.

Another notable deterioration concerned the Kia Sportage. Having secured joint sixth in 2018, in 2019 it ended up in thirteenth after demand fell by 438 to 2,437 examples.

Top 10: Irish Car Registrations 2019 - By Model
Position	Model	2019	2018	+/-	% +/-
1	Toyota Corolla	4,406	1,988	+2,418	+121.6%
2	Hyundai Tucson	3,828	4,026	-198	-4.9%
3	Nissan Qashqai	3,748	3,995	-247	-6.2%
4	Volkswagen Tiguan	3,201	2,875	+326	+11.3%
5	Škoda Octavia	3,199	3,357	-158	-4.7%
6	Volkswagen Golf	3,074	4,012	-938	-23.4%
7	Hyundai Kona	2,939	1,956	+983	+50.3%
8	Ford Focus	2,766	3,777	-1,011	-26.8%
9	Toyota Yaris	2,554	2,855	-301	-10.5%
10	Toyota C-HR	2,509	2,505	+4	+0.2%
Figures provided by SIMI Motorstats

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Top 10: UK car sales 2019
Top 10: Irish car sales 2018
Top 10: Irish car sales 2017