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06 Dec 2025
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06 Dec 2025
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Volkswagen comes out on top with 683 newly licenced private cars in the county
The most popular cars in Donegal in 2024 have been revealed, as Volkswagen comes out on top with 683 newly licenced private cars in the county so far this year.
New figures released by the Central Statistics Office (CSO) show that the second and third most licenced car brands in the county over the first 10 months of 2024 were Toyota (504) and Kia (474).
Ford was fourth on the list with 465 vehicles registered for the first time, and Skoda came in as the fifth most popular for Donegal drivers with new 342 new licences. There have been 5,239 cars newly licenced in Co. Donegal in 2024 - and of those, 1,548 were petrol cars and 2,291 were diesel. Just 238 have been fully electric vehicles.
READ MORE: Safety audit planned for controversial Twin Towns crossings
A total of 352 cars were licenced for the first time in Donegal in October, of which only 10 were fully electric. Diesel cars accounted for 176 vehicles licenced in the county last month, and while there were 111 petrol cars newly licenced.
Commenting on the new CSO data, Briain Kelly of EnergyEfficiency.ie said that the goal of having 945,000 electric vehicles on the road by the end of the decade is unrealistic.
"EV sales in Ireland have dropped off significantly this year, and trends show that the government's ambitious 2030 targets are not going to be met," he said. "So far in 2024, 14% of all new cars licensed for the first time were electric. This is compared with 19% in the same period last year."
"However, the share of electric hybrids, excluding plug-in hybrids, among new private cars has increased from 17% to 22% this year."
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