The latest figures for new car sales in 2014, released by independent car history experts Motorcheck.ie, show the Irish market was up 30% compared with the 2013 figures, as new car registrations topped the 96,000 mark.

Earlier in the year there were predictions of total sales of between 85,000-90,000 units. But the final figures have smashed this original prediction with 96,254 new cars registered in 2014. That’s over 22,000 more registrations than 2013 or an increase of 30%.

Used cars imported into Ireland were also up by 8.4% with 54,290 used vehicles registered in 2014.

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New commercial vehicle registrations finished the year on a high also, up 43% on 2013 with more than 21,000 units sold, indicating confidence from the business world.

Used car sales from Irish dealers, which had remained relatively unchanged for the past number of years, increased by almost 50,000 vehicles in 2014 with more than 835,000 used vehicles changing hands during the year, an increase of 6.3% on last year.

Volkswagen was the top selling new car brand in 2014, followed by Toyota and Ford. Among these three, Toyota recorded the biggest growth in market share.

Hyundai took fourth place and also showed high gains in market share, while the arrival of the new Nissan Qashqai helped Nissan into fifth place ahead of Opel, Skoda, Renault, Kia and Audi.

New car market shares 2014

Ranking Brand % market share

1 Volkswagen 12.18

2 Toyota 10.66

3 Ford 10.02

4 Hyundai 8.47

5 Nissan 7.29

The Volkswagen Golf was once again the best-selling new car in Ireland in 2014, followed by the Nissan Qashqai, Ford’s Focus and Fiesta were in third and fourth place, while Toyota’s reliable Corolla took fifth place. Others among the top ten in 2014 included the Skoda Octavia, Hyundai ix35, next to the Qashqai in the SUV sector, followed by the Volkswagen Passat, Toyota Yaris and Toyota Auris, giving Toyota three cars in the 2014 top ten.

Top selling new car 2014

Ranking Model Registrations

1 Volkswagen Golf 4,596

2 Nissan Qashqai 3,791

3 Ford Focus 3,791

4 Ford Fiesta 3,119

5 Toyota Corolla 3,008