266 new tractors were licensed for the first time in January 2024, according to the latest data from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).

This was down by 30 units when compared to the same month in 2023 (296), but is up from the 252 tractors registered in January 2022.

The data published today (Wednesday, February 14) shows that 179 used (imported) tractors were licensed in the first month of the year.

That figure is down from the 193 used tractors which were registered for the first time in January 2023.

CSO

The CSO also said that the number of new cars licensed in January 2024 rose by 4,074 vehicles (24%) to 20,861 compared with January 2023 (16,787).

In January 2024, 14% of all new cars licensed for the first time were electric compared with 15% in January 2023.

One-fifth of new private cars licensed in the first month of 2024 were diesel, which was the same as January 2023.

The number of used cars licensed in January 2024 increased by 37% compared with January 2023 (4,600 versus 3,362).

Dr. Nele van der Wielen, statistician in the transport section of the CSO, said that the figures “show the continued growth in the number of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles licensed in Ireland”.

“The number of new electric cars licensed has increased by 12% from 2,531 in January 2023 to 2,829 in January 2024.

“In January 2024, 6,119 new cars licensed were petrol cars compared with 5,819 in January 2023.

“There were 4,337 new diesel cars licensed in January 2024 compared with 3,427 in January 2023,” van der Wielen said.

The data shows that Toyota (4,113) was the most popular make of new private car licensed in January 2024, followed by Hyundai (2,699), Skoda (1,753), Kia (1,567) and Volkswagen (1,483).

The most popular brand of new electric car licensed in January 2024 was Hyundai Kona (320) followed by Volkswagen ID.4 (215), MG4 (136) and Volkswagen ID.3 (132).