New car registrations: down 10.4% in March 2026; Battery Electric Vehicles up 52%

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) today released its official 261 new vehicle registration statistics for March. New car registrations for March were down 10.4% (15,485) compared to March 2025 (17,291). Registrations year to date are up 0.28% (64,967) on the same period last year (64,784). Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) increased by 13.5% (4,463) compared to March last year (3,931). Year to date, LCVs are up 17.5% (15,654). Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) registrations are up 10.2% (302) in comparison to March 2025 (274). Year to date, HGVs are down 6.5% (971). Imported Used Cars have seen a 37.7% (7,970) rise in March 2026, when compared to March 2025 (5,787). Year to date imports are up 39.2% (23,646) on 2025 (16,987). In March 3,851 new electric cars (battery electric cars) were registered, which was 52.1% higher than the 2,531 registrations in March 2025. So far this year, 14,004 new electric cars have been registered, representing a 40.5% increase compared to the same period in 2025, when 9,964 electric cars were registered. In the new car market share by engine type, Hybrid (Petrol Electric) continues to lead as the most popular engine type at 27.36%, followed by Electric 21.56%, Petrol 21.24%, Plug-In Hybrid 14.41%, and Diesel 12.92%.

Published 6 months ago

New Corsa GSE soon to bring its talents to the street

Opel is expanding its range of all-electric GSE models, with the soon to arrive Opel Corsa GSE. Having launched the Opel Mokka GSE last year, the intent behind this new Corsa GSE is to be the next everyday sports car. Opel CEO Florian Huettl, commented, "Our Opel Corsa is an absolute bestseller. Small, agile and extremely practical, it stands for long-lasting success. The three letters 'GSE', on the other hand, stand for battery-electric high-performance and top dynamics. The new Corsa GSE combines both worlds. It is the new all-electric top-of- the-range version of our small car and will offer pure electric and thus locally emissions-free driving pleasure."

Published 7 months ago

Pat partners with Peugeot in Puckane

Delighted to see my fellow horizon-chaser, Pat Shortt has been announced as a brand ambassador to Slatterys Garage, Peugeot Dealer for over 55 years in Puckane, Nenagh, Co. Tipperary. One of our best-known entertainers, Pat will act as a brand ambassador for the dealership while driving the very competent Peugeot 3008 Hybrid. A proud Tipperary native, Pat will travel to his many engagements across our Irish roads, as he continues to perform live shows and appearances. Pat Shortt said he was delighted to partner with a well-known local business., commenting, “I’m delighted to be teaming up with Slatterys Garage in Puckane. They’re a fantastic local business with a great reputation and a long history in the area. The Peugeot 3008 is some machine - comfortable, stylish and perfect for all the travelling I do around the country for shows.”

Published 7 months ago

Anna Daly announced as Honda Ambassador

Honda Ireland has announced that TV broadcaster and Entrepreneur, Anna Daly has signed as a year-long brand ambassador with the car brand. This partnership will see Anna rediscover the Honda car range and what it has to offer across a series of social media content pieces.    Throughout the partnership, Anna will be driving the new HR-V offering hybrid efficiency, plenty of space and an enjoyable driving experience. Anna will also explore the full Honda passenger car range and highlight what each model has to offer during this partnership.

Published 7 months ago

John Keane Kia ready to rock in Roscommon

John Keane Kia, located on Lanesboro Road, Roscommon are definitely ready to rock, with the announcement by Kia Ireland that they are the newest Kia sales and aftersales dealership. Headed up by John and Micheál Keane, have been in business since 1974 and employ over twenty people in the area.    Ronan Flood, Managing Director, Kia Ireland, in welcoming the appointment, said: “We are delighted that John Keane Kia have taken on our franchise at such an exciting time for the brand. As a brand, Kia is now firmly established as a top five manufacturer in the country. Before this appointment, we had no Roscommon dealer and Keane’s have a very loyal customer base from their many years in business, so we are excited to now showcase our product to their customers. We look forward to working with all the team in John Keane Kia going forward.”

Published 7 months ago

Leapmotor Ireland take to the streets with VHI Women’s Mini Marathon

Leapmotor Ireland has announced the launch of its new ‘Take The Leap Champion’ initiative, celebrating the inspiring stories behind the 2026 VHI Women’s Mini Marathon. This marks Leapmotor’s inaugural year as Official Motor Sponsor of this national event.   Now in its 44th year, the VHI Women’s Mini Marathon takes place on Sunday, May 31st, 2026.   The VHI Women’s Mini Marathon continues to empower women of all fitness levels to participate, supporting causes close to their hearts while celebrating strength, community, and purpose. Running from March to May 2026, the initiative invites the people of Ireland to nominate women taking part in this year’s event whose deeply personal ‘what drives me’ stories reflect the incredible resilience, courage and emotional transformation that define both the VHI Women’s Mini Marathon and Leapmotor’s ‘Take the Leap’ ethos.

Published 7 months ago

Defender Hard Top shows its soft side at Killruddery Estate

A day of meandering through the picturesque Killruddery Estate on a beautiful March morning, in the company of Land Rover’s latest Defender Hard Top, is difficult to both understate or claim to be hardship. The ground was soft, with pools of standing water on the route track, all combing to provide plenty of slip and slide at the merest hint of too much throttle, too much steering, or your disrespect for simple physics – an ideal mix to showcase the 2026 Defenders talents. Now in its second generation, the Defender brings comfort and convenience, allied to entertainment, safety and connectivity enhancements that elevate it to a status far removed from the original model’s quite stark functionality, albeit beloved by millions globally.

Published 7 months ago

Conventional Kia K4 doesn’t do complicated

We are now in month three of 2026 and the folk in KIA have built up a serious head of steam with the introduction last December of their EV5, followed by their commercial PV5 van in January and now this week, their new hatchback, the K4, and their updated Stonic. In quarter two of this year, we will also see their new EV2 make its debut and effectively complete the very comprehensive Kia car range. This new K4 Hatchback sits in the ultra-competitive C-segment and amid the plethora of SUV and Crossover. It is a straight-forward 5-door hatch, with a length of 4,440mm, is 1,850mm wide and is 1,435mm in height, suiting those who like the conventional of old. Boot space is 328litres.

Published 7 months ago

BMW Group Ireland names 2025 Retailers of the Year.

BMW Group Ireland has named its inaugural Retailers of the Year for 2025, recognising outstanding performance across the BMW and MINI brands over the past twelve months. The awards celebrate the top BMW and MINI retailers who excelled in business performance and transformation throughout the year. Conlans BMW Kildare was honoured as BMW Retailer of the Year Ireland, while Frank Keane Naas Road received the MINI Retailer of the Year Ireland award.   The Sustainability Retail Champion of the Year Award was presented to Colm Quinn, recognising efforts in CO₂ reduction and active involvement in the local community. The Sustainability Retail Champion of the Year Award, now in its third year, is important because it recognises and encourages efforts to reduce environmental impact and promote long-term responsible practices within the retail network.

Published 7 months ago

A Farizon First for Dublin Duo

Frank Keane Farizon in Ballymount, Dublin, and M50 Truck & Van Centre, located off Exit 5 on the M50 in Dublin, have been appointed by Farizon Ireland as its first authorised dealers. Further dealer appointments will be announced as Farizon Ireland continues to develop its national network. Frank Keane Farizon will operate from its Ballymount premises, offering customers a dedicated commercial sales and aftersales environment backed by experienced teams supporting SME and larger fleet operators across Dublin and surrounding regions. M50 Truck & Van Centre brings long-established expertise in the commercial vehicle sector, with industry experience dating back to 1946, recognised for their strong focus on commercial vehicle servicing, fleet maintenance and customer support.

Published 7 months ago

New car registrations: up 7.4% in February 2026; Battery Electric Vehicles up 14.4%

New car registrations: up 7.4% in February 2026; Battery Electric Vehicles up 14.4% The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI) today released its official 261 new vehicle registration statistics for February. New car registrations for February were up 7.4% (15,033) compared to February 2025 (13,994). Registrations year to date are up 4.3% (49,557) on the same period last year (47,493). Light Commercial Vehicles (LCVs) increased by 15% (3,635) compared to February last year (3,160). Year to date LCVs are up 19.3% (11,201). Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV) registrations are down 4.8% (277) in comparison to February 2025 (291). Year to date, HGVs are down 12.1% (669). Imported Used Cars have seen a 36.5% (7,639) rise in February 2026, when compared to February 2025 (5,596). Year to date imports are up 40% (15,679) on 2025 (11,200).

Published 7 months ago

High-miler Hybrid hits the BYD Highway

Having sold some one thousand units in January, the presence of BYD in our nation’s car park is ever-growing, this Chinese brand, distributed here through Motor Distributors Limited, through fourteen dealers, winning the hearts and driveways of Irish drivers with its easy-going persona. The latest addition to the BYD family is their Seal 6 Super Hybrid in saloon and Touring variants. This is a plug-in hybrid with intelligent BYD Super DM, (Dual Mode), technology.

Published 8 months ago

Citroen C5 Aircross gives you wings

Brace yourselves - Citroën all-new C5 Aircross starts from €39,300 for the Petrol/Hybrid 48v. This second-generation C5 Aircross enters the ultra-competitive C-SUV segment, against established tenants who fight their ground with savage unforgiveness. Peruse some of its rivals and it’s easy to see how sales won in this segment are achieved after a major battle; Toyota RAV4, Ford Explorer, Skoda Enyaq, VWW ID4, Peugeot 3008, KIA Sportage, KIA EV5, Dacia Bigster, Renault Scenic, Nissan Qashqai, VW Tiguan, Ford Kuga.

Published 8 months ago

BYD IRELAND APPOINTED TO REPRESENT BYD RENEWABLE ENERGY PRODUCTS

Motor Distributors Limited (MDL), importers of BYD vehicles, are expanding its product offering in Ireland to include BYD renewable energy products range of solar panels, batteries, inverters and vehicle chargers. For MDL, whose history dates back to the 1940s, the appointment will increase BYD’s footprint in the Irish market and build on its achievements since the brand was first launched here in April 2023. On foot of significantly growing its dealer network, with more appointments to follow imminently, BYD has achieved a top-4 position in Ireland’s EV sales league – starting 2026 strongly with over 1,000 units sold in January alone.

Published 8 months ago

BYD EXTENDS ‘BLADE BATTERY’ WARRANTY

New Energy Vehicles are those predominantly powered by electric propulsion, the term now inserted as part of our motoring vocabulary. BYD, imported and distributed here by Motor Distributors Limited on Dublin’s Naas Road, is a major manufacturer of NEV’s and has consolidated its Irish presence by impressively extending the warranty cover on BYD Blade batteries to 250,000kms, or eight years – applicable to existing cars as well as new purchases.   Alongside increasing the warranty mileage limit, a move which it says is designed to further strengthen consumer confidence, BYD has retained the existing duration of cover at eight years and a guaranteed minimum State of Health (SOH) of 70%.

Published 8 months ago

Citroen C3 Aircross is all grown up

Standing beside each other on the showroom floor of importers, Gowan Auto, the latest Citroen C3 Aircross and C5 Aircross look both related and ready. More elevated than the normal hatchback, the C3 Aircross has a height of 200mm, providing easy access and departure, with friendly seating awaiting every tush and high-tech standard features for your comfort, entertainment and safety. We live now in a world where never was so much, offered to so many, by so many. The new 2026 C3 has a starting price from €27,790 for the Petrol manual 5-seater, with the brand-new option of a 7-seater also on the menu. This all-new C3 Aircross embodies this with the C-Zen-Lounge concept, with one of my favourite additions, the Head-Up Display, plus a reduced-size steering wheel, and new Citroën Advanced Comfort seats redesigned for optimum support.

Published 8 months ago

Celebrating excellence at the 2026 Irish Motor Industry Awards : SIMI and Bank of Ireland announce winners

The Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI), in partnership with Bank of Ireland, last night (Thursday, 19th February) announced the Irish Motor Industry Award Winners at the prestigious Clayton Hotel in Dublin. Marty Whelan, master of ceremonies, revealed the winners in front of over 700 senior figures in the Motor Industry. Brian Cooke, SIMI Director General, and Vinny Coghlan, Head of Asset and Motor Finance, Bank of Ireland, presented the awards. An independent panel adjudicated the winners in six award categories, highlighting excellence and best practices in the Irish Motor Industry over the past year.

Published 8 months ago

Polestar puts four into three

Polestar (Nasdaq: PSNY) has announced the largest model offensive in its history, with four new cars planned in the next three years. The Company also announced that with a disciplined approach, in 2026 it expects low double-digit volume growth and a continued retail network expansion of 30%.   By 2028, Polestar plans to bring the following four new models to the market:

Published 8 months ago

Global KIA Award for Wexford Car Centre

Wexford Car Centre, based at Ardcavan in Wexford Town have been awarded ‘2025 Global Best Dealer’, and certified ‘Kia Platinum Prestige’ status. This prestigious award was given exclusively to the best Kia dealers across the world, as part of Kia’s distinctive global dealer excellence recognition programme. Dealers are recognised for the previous year’s performance in delivering outstanding standards, customer service, customer facilities, staff training and development, sales performance and local market share. Wexford Car Centre are the sole Irish representative to receive this accreditation this year, and are in esteemed company, being from just 100 winning dealers around the world, and among only 23 European recipients to be awarded.

Published 8 months ago

Tesla Model Y Long Range

Having launched their Model Y last October, year, Tesla have just announced the introduction of a new variant, the Model Y Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive, a mid-size family friendly SUV.    This Model Y Long Range Rear-Wheel Drive offers 616km of range WLTP and is available at €46,990 delivering a very competitive price-to-range ratio in a midsize family-friendly SUV.    This vehicle also benefits from 19-inch Crossflow wheels and a lowered acceleration to support better residual values for Irish customers.   Tesla is also offering a Trade-In bonus of £3,750, valid against all Model Y and Model 3 vehicles ordered before 31 st  of March 2026.

Published 8 months ago

The future is Bright for BYD at new Airside showroom

BYD Airside, a new name to attract, a new car range to entice, all courtesy of Bright Motor Group being appointed as a main dealer to represent BYD, by the distributor for the New Energy Vehicle (NEV) brand in Ireland, Motor Distributors Limited (MDL).    This appointment increases the BYD national dealer network to 14 outlets overall, with a number of further appointments expected to be announced imminently.   Vicky Reilly, BYD Ireland National Sales Manager commenting on the announcement, said: “Recognising the excellent reputation that Bright Motor Group have as people who pride themselves on the service they offer and their commitment to giving  customers the best possible experience, we are delighted to welcome them – and the extensive motoring expertise they bring – to the BYD dealer network.”

Published 8 months ago

Manchester City F.C. partner up with BYD

New Energy Vehicle manufacturer BYD has announced an agreement to become the Official Automotive Partner of Manchester City Football Club.   As well as supplying vehicles to Manchester City, BYD Group will also provide vehicle charging and energy-storage batteries at City Football Academy, the Club’s training and development facility and home to the men’s, women’s and academy teams.     BYD's branding will feature on the training-kit sleeve of the men’s first team and from next season the women’s first team. In addition, BYD will have presence across the Etihad Stadium, with the brand’s logo featuring on the headrests of the dug-out area. One of the company’s cars will also lead the official Manchester City men’s first team bus into the stadium for Premier League and domestic-cup home fixtures.

Published 8 months ago

Passenger & Commercial KIA’s bring style to the street

PBV – new initials from an old friend – heralds the introduction to Ireland of the all- new commercial and passenger range from KIA. The PV5 is Kia’s first model to launch under the company’s Platform Beyond Vehicle (PBV) strategy. Purpose built to meet the evolving needs of modern transportation, the PV5 seek to offer smarter, more adaptable, and user-focused solutions for modern transportation needs. The PV5 is now on sale through Kia’s nine dedicated PBV centres nationwide. All versions will feature a 71.2 kWh battery and 120 kW Electric motor as standard.

Published 8 months ago

FIAT IRELAND ANNOUNCES SPONSORSHIP OF RTÉ’S WINTER OLYMPIC COVERAGE

Fiat Ireland will be the official sponsor of RTÉ’s Winter Olympic coverage on RTÉ Player for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Games, taking place from 6th to 22nd February 2026. The partnership will give the brand prominent visibility with Irish audiences during one of the year’s biggest global sporting events.   RTÉ Player will serve as Ireland’s home of the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. Two dedicated Winter Olympic channels will broadcast live from 9 am to 11 pm every day, offering extensive coverage including all major sessions and every ceremony so fans can follow the action as it unfolds.

Published 8 months ago