Ireland registered 6,342 new cars in September 2026, up 13.1% on September 2025's 5,607, according to SIMI Motorstats (data to 30 September 2026), confirmed the same day by RTE. The year to date is now 128,288, up 5.4% on 121,675.
Electric took almost half the month
3,126 battery-electric cars were registered in September, up 80.2% on 1,734 a year earlier. That is 49% of all cars registered in the month. For the year, 35,195 electric cars have been registered, up 57.3%, and electric is the largest powertrain at 27.4%.
| Powertrain, January to September 2026 | Cars | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Electric | 35,195 | 27.4% |
| Petrol-electric hybrid | 30,377 | 23.7% |
| Petrol | 25,136 | 19.6% |
| Plug-in hybrid (petrol) | 19,154 | 14.9% |
| Diesel | 15,854 | 12.4% |
Who is selling
The top five brands in September were Toyota, Volkswagen, Skoda, Hyundai and Kia. The top five models were the Toyota Yaris Cross, Hyundai Tucson, Skoda Octavia, Kia Sportage and Skoda Kodiaq. The best-selling electric cars of the month were the Volkswagen ID.4, Tesla Model Y, Skoda Enyaq, Tesla Model 3 and Hyundai Inster (RTE).
For the year, the Yaris Cross leads on 3,831 and Toyota leads the brands on 17,601. The full tables are on the Ireland dashboard, and the year so far is in the most popular car in Ireland in 2026.
Why September is small, and why it matters anyway
September is one of Ireland's quietest months because buyers wait for the January and July plate changes, so a 13% rise on a small base moves the year only a little. What it does show is where the market is heading when nobody is chasing a new plate: half of September's buyers chose a fully electric car. That is the clearest sign yet that electric is now the default for a large share of Irish buyers, not a niche.
Source and method
Totals and every breakdown are SIMI Motorstats cumulative tables to 30 September 2026, read on 1 October 2026; the September total, year-to-date total, electric counts and engine shares are confirmed by RTE's report of SIMI's release on 1 October 2026. Shares are of all new passenger cars registered.