DUBLIN, Ireland: There have been more electric cars sold in Ireland's new car market than petrol and diesel models this month.

In the busiest month of the year for new car sales, 34,604 new cars were registered, 3.3 percent up on the same month last year, according to figures from the Society of the Irish Motor Industry (SIMI).

Regular petrol-electric hybrid cars are now the best-selling new vehicles, making up 28.3 percent of the market. Fully electric cars (EVs) come next with 21.2 percent, followed by petrol cars at 20.9 percent. Plug-in hybrids have just over 15 percent of sales. Diesel cars are now far behind, accounting for only 12.5 percent of the market, mainly because fewer new diesel models are available.

Toyota is the top-selling car brand with 5,347 new registrations, well ahead of Hyundai, which has 3,805. Volkswagen ranks third with 3,214 sales, closely followed by its sister brand Skoda with 2,982. Kia comes next with 2,617 registrations.

Toyota's strong position is mainly due to its dominance of the conventional hybrid market. Last month, it sold 4,706 petrol-electric hybrids, far ahead of Dacia, which sold 841 hybrids. The five best-selling hybrid models are all Toyotas.

In the plug-in hybrid market, Hyundai ranked first with 1,100 sales, driven mainly by strong demand for its Tucson plug-in hybrid. BMW followed with 584 sales.

By the end of the month, Toyota's Yaris Cross became Ireland's best-selling new car overall. It recorded 1,148 registrations, slightly ahead of Hyundai's Tucson, and followed closely by Kia's Sportage.

Electric cars are also growing fast. A total of 7,319 new EVs were registered, a 48.7 percent increase from last year. Hyundai led EV sales, followed by Volkswagen, Kia, BYD, Renault, and Skoda. Tesla, once the market leader, dropped to 14th place with only 137 sales. The most popular electric cars this year are the VW ID.4, Hyundai Inster, Kia EV3, Hyundai Kona EV, and Hyundai Ioniq 5.

Ford also started the year strongly with 1,524 registrations, up 23 percent from last year, helped by demand for the new Puma crossover. Chinese brands BYD and MG also performed well. At the lower end, no new Subarus or Jaguars were registered last month, and only a few DS, Smart, and Alfa Romeo cars were sold.

In the luxury market, Audi leads, followed by BMW and Mercedes. Volvo and Lexus come next. Porsche sales fell sharply, although a few costly 911 GT3 models were sold.

The rise of EVs and hybrids has increased the number of automatic cars, which now make up 79 percent of new vehicles. Used car imports also rose sharply, mainly from Japan. In commercial vehicles, van and bus sales increased, but truck sales fell compared to last year.