The number of new cars licensed in October 2021 decreased by 307 vehicles compared with the same month last year and rose by 668 vehicles compared with pre-pandemic October 2019, new CSO figures show.

In the first 10 months of 2021, 16% of all new cars licensed for the first time were electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) compared to 7% in the first 10 months of 2020.

The share of new fully-electric cars licensed increased from 4.6% in the first ten months of 2020 to 8.2% in 2021.

The number of used (imported) private cars licensed halved, falling from 9,543 in October 2020 to 4,506 in October 2021, vehicle licensing figures show.

This compares with 10,941 used (imported) private cars licensed in October 2019.

And number of new cars licensed for the first time in October 2021 was 3,882 compared with 4,189 in October 2020 and 3,214 in October 2019.

Statistician Nele van der Wielen said: “In the first 10 months of 2021, a total of 98,854 new private cars were licensed, an increase of 21% compared with the same period last year. “

The number of used (imported) private cars licensed decreased by 2.3% compared with the same period in 2020.

“The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic over the first 10 months of 2021 is still visible as figures remain 11% lower in comparison with the same 10 months in 2019,” he said.

Decrease

Unlike new cars licensed, the number of used (imported) private cars licensed decreased in the first 10 months of 2021 compared with the same period in 2020.

A total of 60,333 used private cars were licensed, a decrease of 2% compared with the same period last year and a decrease of 34% compared with 2019.

In October 2021, Volkswagen (483) was the most popular make of new private car licensed followed by Skoda (343), Toyota (316), Ford (264) and Hyundai (243).