Top Car Brands in Kerry 2024: Volkswagen Leads with Most Licenses

Volkswagen Leads Car Sales in Kerry for 2024

In Kerry, the most popular car brand in 2024 is Volkswagen, with 468 newly licensed private cars. The Central Statistics Office (CSO) released data indicating that Toyota follows in second place, selling 412 vehicles, and Hyundai ranks third with 328 registrations.

Kia secured the fourth position with 300 new registrations, while Skoda rounds out the top five with 251 new licenses. In total, 3,419 new and second-hand cars were licensed in Kerry this year. The breakdown includes 1,166 petrol cars, 1,070 diesel cars, and 249 electric vehicles (EVs).

Brian Kelly from EnergyEfficiency.ie expressed concerns about the government’s target of having 945,000 electric vehicles on the road by the end of the decade. He noted, “So far in 2024, 14 percent of new cars licensed were electric, compared to 19 percent during the same period last year.” This shows a drop in EV sales in Ireland, suggesting that the government’s ambitious targets for 2030 may not be achieved.

Despite the decline in EV sales, the share of electric hybrids, excluding plug-in hybrids, increased from 17 percent to 22 percent in 2024. Last month, 49 new hybrid vehicles were licensed in Kerry, but petrol and diesel cars still remain the most sought after.

In October alone, 176 cars received their first licenses in Kerry, with less than 10 percent (17) being fully electric. The trend indicates that while the market sees rising interest in hybrids, traditional fuel options still dominate.