1. Company
  2. News, Stories and Events
  3. Ireland’s Best-Selling Car Brand

Toyota’s Hybrid Electric Strategy Continues to Perform Strongly as Toyota is Ireland’s Best-Selling Car Brand for the Third Year in a Row

  • Toyota builds upon its 15.25% 2022 market leader share closing out January at 16.25%  
  • 4,446 Toyota cars sold; over 700 more than next best seller
  • Hybrid electic accounted for 21% of the 27,364 cars sold in January
  • Four of the top five sellers were Toyota models
  • 88% of all Toyota passenger cars sold in January were hybrid electric


Once again Toyota has closed out the competitive January passenger car sales period in pole position, continuing the brand’s dominance as Ireland’s best-selling car brand for three years in a row. Toyota sold 4,446 passenger cars last month, over 700 more than the next best seller, giving it a market leading share of 16.25%, and demonstrating the continued high demand for its wide range of low-emission, hybrid electric vehicles.

Toyotas accounted for four of the top five best-selling cars with Yaris Cross, Yaris, Toyota C-HR and Corolla all posting impressive numbers. With hybrid electrics representing 21% of the entire January market, Toyota is benefiting from the continued migration away from diesel to more environmentally friendly options. Reflecting this fact is that January sales of hybrids were just 2.3% lower than the historically high selling diesels.

Diesel market share has also fallen significantly over the past few years, dropping from 42.4% in 2020 to 23.2% in 2022. On the other hand, full EVs showed continued growth accounting for 13.8% of the market, while PHEVs were at 7.1% and petrol came in at 37.4%.

Commenting on the January sales period, Steve Tormey, Toyota Ireland’s CEO said,

Our January market share gives us confidence that it’s going to be another strong year for hybrid electric sales. With the widest range of hybrid models on the market, Toyota can fulfil all customers needs with a car that suits taste, lifestyle and budget. In addition to the low CO2 and negligible NOx emissions, our hybrids represent a smart environmental choice, with the added convenience of not having to plug them in to charge. And, our PHEVs add to that choice with up to 80km EV range on the RAV4.

Toyota has long championed sustainable driving so it’s encouraging to see the move to electrified motoring steadily gather pace over the past few years. I believe that we have the right offering at the right time for the growing number of sustainability-conscious Irish motorists, and our hybrid strategy is working out well for both motorists and the environment.

Just four years ago hybrids accounted for 7% of January sales, so to now see the market up at 21% strongly indicates a major mindset shift in favour of our planet. And, with exciting models like the new 1.8L Corolla Cross coming to Toyota dealerships in the summer there’ll be yet another great reason to switch to hybrid electric.”