If you walked into any car dealership in Ireland during January 2024, you would have seen the same thing: SUVs and crossovers dominating the showroom floor. That is not a showroom design choice. It reflects what people are actually buying. In 2024, SUVs and crossovers accounted for roughly 55% of all new car registrations in Ireland, crossing the majority threshold for the first time.
Toyota: The Brand That Just Keeps Winning
Toyota has been Ireland's best-selling car brand for years running, and 2024 was no different. With approximately 17,500 registrations and a 14.5% market share, they held a comfortable lead over Volkswagen in second place at 11.1%. What makes Toyota's dominance unusual is how broad-based it is. They do not rely on a single hero model. The Corolla (in hatchback, saloon, and touring sports forms) is a perennial top seller. The RAV4 hybrid consistently ranks as one of Ireland's most popular SUVs. And the newer Corolla Cross has carved out its own niche.
The common thread is hybrid. Toyota bet early and heavily on hybrid technology, and that bet has paid off in Ireland, where the VRT system rewards low CO2 emissions. Most Toyota models sold in Ireland are now hybrid by default, giving buyers decent fuel economy without requiring a charging point at home.
The Top 10 Models
While exact model-level ranking data shifts slightly depending on the reporting period, the top 10 best sellers in 2024 were broadly as follows: the Toyota Corolla led the pack, followed closely by the Hyundai Tucson, Skoda Octavia, Toyota RAV4, Volkswagen Tiguan, Kia Sportage, Skoda Kodiaq, Volkswagen Golf, Hyundai Kona, and the Dacia Duster. The mix is revealing. Seven of those ten are either SUVs or crossovers. The traditional hatchback is being squeezed out of the top spots.
The SUV Takeover Is Complete
Ireland followed the global pattern, just a few years behind. In 2015, SUVs and crossovers made up roughly 25% of new Irish registrations. By 2020, that had risen to around 40%. And in 2024, it crossed 55%. The compact crossover segment (think Hyundai Kona, Toyota Yaris Cross, VW T-Cross) is where most of the growth has happened. These are not the large, fuel-hungry SUVs of a decade ago. They are essentially hatchbacks with raised ride heights and slightly more cargo space.
This matters because it changes the economics. Higher ride height means slightly higher drag, which means slightly worse fuel economy, which means slightly higher CO2 per kilometre. At a market level, the SUV shift is partly why average fleet CO2 has been slow to fall despite the EV surge.
Who Lost Ground?
Ford, once a top-three brand in Ireland, has continued to slide. The Fiesta was discontinued in 2023, and the Focus faces an uncertain future. Peugeot and Renault have also faded relative to their mid-2010s peaks. Meanwhile, Dacia has been the surprise performer, with the Duster and Sandero appealing to budget-conscious buyers.
Head to the Brand Wars section on AutoNergy to watch how these brand rankings have shifted year by year since 2010, with the animated race chart showing exactly when Toyota pulled away from the pack.