Total new car registrations hit 124,954 in 2025, up 3% on the year before, with electric and hybrid vehicles becoming an increasingly common sight on Irish roads. New car registrations are at a record high, and the type of cars being registered is changing too. Petrol is still the most popular choice, but electric and hybrid cars are becoming far more common, with drivers right across the country making the switch.
Our team has analysed Irish motor industry data from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry to find out which counties are registering the most new cars relative to their population, which are leading the charge on electric vehicles, and what colours Irish drivers are gravitating towards.
Grey is the most popular car colour in every single county, and more than half of all new cars registered in the top five counties are electric or hybrid. From Dublin to some of Ireland's smallest counties, here's a look at who is leading Ireland's new car boom.
1. Dublin
Dublin is Ireland's car capital, with 53,033 new cars registered across the county in 2025. For every 100,000 Dublin residents, 3,637 new cars were registered during the year. Petrol was the top engine type with 14,309 registrations, but Dublin is rapidly embracing electric vehicles, with 11,148 pure electric cars registered in 2025, accounting for one in five new cars sold. More than half of all new cars registered in Dublin were electric or hybrid overall.
2. Cork
Cork remains Ireland's second busiest county for new car registrations, with 14,285 new cars registered in 2025, which works out at 2,445 new cars for every 100,000 residents. Petrol was the most popular engine choice at 3,661 registrations, followed by pure electric at 2,310, making up 16% of all new cars sold in the county. Grey, black and blue were the most popular colours among Cork drivers.
3. Kildare
Kildare takes third place nationally with 5,783 new cars registered in 2025, equivalent to 2,334 new cars for every 100,000 residents. The county stands out as one of Ireland's top electric vehicle counties, with pure electric being the most popular engine type registered there. Only one other county in Ireland can say the same. In total, 1,432 pure electric vehicles were registered in Kildare, making up almost 25% of all new cars sold and giving it the second highest pure EV share of any county in the country.
4. Carlow
Carlow ranks fourth despite being one of Ireland's smallest counties by population, with 2,201 new car registrations for every 100,000 residents. A total of 1,364 new cars were registered in Carlow in 2025, with petrol the most popular engine type at 343 registrations, while 205 pure electric vehicles were also registered, accounting for 15% of all new cars sold in the county.
5. Waterford
Waterford rounds out the top five with 2,681 new cars registered in 2025, equivalent to 2,105 new cars for every 100,000 residents. Petrol was the most popular engine choice at 768 registrations, but Waterford also showed a strong appetite for electric vehicles, with 478 pure EVs registered, making up nearly 18% of all new cars sold in the county.
Who else made it to the top 10?
Louth (2,074 per 100,000 residents), Clare (2,007) and Kilkenny (1,935) take sixth, seventh and eighth place respectively. Louth registered 2,898 new cars in 2025, with petrol the most popular engine type and 556 pure electric vehicles also registered, accounting for 19% of all new cars in the county. Clare recorded 2,568 new registrations, with petrol-electric hybrid the most popular engine type and 389 pure EVs registered, making up 15% of new cars sold. Kilkenny rounded out the top eight with 2,016 new registrations, with petrol leading the way and 312 pure electric vehicles registered, accounting for around 15% of all new cars in the county.
Meath (1,930 per 100,000 residents) and Limerick (1,926) complete the top 10. Meath recorded 4,262 new registrations in 2025, with petrol-electric hybrid the most popular engine type and 1,018 pure electric vehicles registered, making up nearly 24% of all new cars sold. One of the highest pure EV shares in the country. Limerick registered 4,035 new cars, with petrol-electric hybrid again the most popular engine type and 645 pure EVs registered, accounting for 16% of all new cars sold. More than 60% of all new cars registered in both counties were electric or hybrid in some form.
Methodology
Our team analysed Motorstats data from SIMI (Society of the Irish Motor Industry) covering new Irish car registrations across all 26 counties for the full year 2025. Registration figures were adjusted for population using CSO Census 2022 data to produce a registration per 100,000 residents' figure for each county.