Galway car sales power on to stay in the fast lane!
Car sales were booming in Galway last month – up by 22% on February last year, three times the increase in trade in the country generally.
A total of 671 new vehicles were driven off forecourts in the city and city this February, 121 more than in the same month in 2025.
While sales were predictably lower than the always-busiest month of January (when car registrations here rose to just short of 1,600), new car registrations were the highest for February in a decade.
Toyota lead the way in sales, followed by Volkswagen and Hyundai, with the latter's Tucson being the most popular model in Galway.
Electric cars continued their sharp upwards sales trend, accounting for more than one in seven cars sold in the first two months of this year.
Petrol electric (hybrid) sales also rose – vehicles run partly or entirely on electricity now represent 61% of new cars bought in Galway, a total of 1,387.
Sales continue to drop for the traditional diesel (457) and petrol cars (423).
Meanwhile, more and more drivers are opting for automatic transmission cars, with just under four in every five vehicles sold being non-manual drive.
SIMI Director General Brian Cooke said that the latest figures showed that the positive start to the new car market this year had continued into February with 15,033 cars registered - a 7% increase compared to February last year.
“Year-to-date registrations increased by 4% on last year, with a total of 49,557 new cars registered,” he said.
“The move towards electric and hybrid cars is also reflected, with a 14% increase on the same month last year,” he said.