Volkswagen Group Ireland had a record year in 2024 and is gearing up for a year of milestones in 2025. The country’s leading car company delivered a record breaking 39,178 vehicles in 2024, up 5% on the previous year.
In addition, Volkswagen Group Ireland secured a 29.6% total new car market share while nearly one in four electric vehicles sold here was from a Volkswagen Group brand.
The arrival of a host of important new vehicles spanning the six Volkswagen Group Ireland brands – Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Audi, CUPRA, Seat, Skoda and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles – signals a bright future in 2025.
Looking back on the past 12 months, Volkswagen Group Ireland and its brands achieved a number of important milestones:
Volkswagen Passenger Cars finished 2024 with great momentum, launching the new Tiguan and Golf while achieving an 11.4% total new car market share. In 2025, Volkswagen Ireland will launch a number of important models, including the Tayron SUV, the new T-ROC and, towards the end of the year, the electric ID.2all – the most compact and affordable member of the ID. family to date. To celebrate 75 years in Ireland, Volkswagen has launched a series of special edition “Edition 75” models featuring class leading specifications and unbeatable value for money.
Audi retained its crown as Ireland’s best-selling premium brand in 2024. Having launched the most ambitious product offensive in its 114-year history, bosses are predicting another bumper year in 2025. A host of new arrivals will reach these shores over the next 12 months, starting with the all-electric A6 e-tron, the new A7 Avant and Saloon, the new A5 PHEV, the Q3 SUV and Sportback, Q5 PHEV, RS5 PHEV as well as a refreshed Q4 e-tron. The Audi portfolio goes from strength to strength as it strides towards greater sustainability.
Škoda shattered sales records in 2024 with a 20% increase in registrations compared to 2023. One of the automotive success stories of the past decade, it finished 2024 as the third best-selling car brand in Ireland. This year, it will welcome a number of next generation PHEV models, including the new Skoda Superb Combi iV and the Kodiaq iV with their electric ranges of 130km and 100km respectively. When it comes to all-electric models, the brand also welcomes the brand-new Skoda Elroq in spring followed by the new model Enyaq and Enyaq Coupe in the summer.
SEAT & CUPRA embraced a year of transition in 2024 and embarked on their most important product launches to date. Globally, SEAT sales were up 7.5per cent on 2023 at more than 558,000 units. Meanwhile, CUPRA saw a similar level of growth, delivering more than 248,000 cars worldwide for the first time. The CUPRA Formentor and SEAT Ibiza were the bestselling models for each brand. Both SEAT and CUPRA laid the foundations for expansion in 2025 with the rollout of new dealerships across Ireland.
In 2025, SEAT celebrates 75 years as a brand with the launch of the new Leon PHEV 2.0 as well as the updated Arona and Ibiza coming later this year. Meanwhile, the CUPRA range will expand to five models thanks to the addition of the new Terramar and the all-electric Tavascan – two models that will become cornerstones of the CUPRA brand going forward.
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles posted its highest volumes since 2019 thanks to record breaking performances from the Amarok, ID. Buzz and new Crafter in 2024. The brand is poised to add more deliveries this year with the addition of several important new models including the seven-seat ID. Buzz LWB and GTX, the brand-new California camper and the long-awaited Volkswagen Transporter, which is now available with an all-electric option.
BEV ROLLOUT CONTINUES WITH THE ARRIVAL OF KEY VEHICLES
Volkswagen Group delivered nearly 745,000 battery electric vehicles worldwide in 2024 and was the undisputed market leader in Europe with a market share of around 21%. In Ireland, it was a similar picture with Volkswagen Group once again the market leader. Nearly one in four electric vehicles sold here in 2024 came from a Volkswagen Group brand.
The Group and its brands are predicting even stronger growth in 2025, with sales of electrified vehicles forecast to increase by 35% over the next 12 months. That confidence was underlined by the results of an independent survey on attitudes towards battery electric vehicles commissioned by Volkswagen Group Ireland and published in December.
It showed that an overwhelming 85% of EV owners were happy with their vehicles and planned to stay electric when it came to buying their next vehicle. The poll showed major discrepancies between the perceptions of ICE vehicle drivers and the realities experienced by BEV owners, with the former more likely to have concerns about range and frequency of charging than those who are living with EVs day to day.
Irish customers can expect even more BEV presence from the country’s leader in electric vehicles in 2025 thanks to the arrival of significant models including the CUPRA Tavascan, the Volkswagen ID.2all, Audi A6 e-tron and Skoda Elroq.
CUSTOMER CHOICE IS KEY DURING E-MOBILITY TRANSITION
While battery electric vehicles are vital to securing ambitious carbon reduction targets, Volkswagen Group acknowledges the need for alternatives suited to motorists who might not be quite ready to make the switch to electric power. Globally, sales of plug-in hybrids grew 5% to 270,000 in 2024 as Volkswagen Group brands welcomed the arrival of second-generation PHEV models with all-electric ranges of up to 143km.
Volkswagen Group Ireland expects strong growth in 2025 as more PHEVs come to market, including plug-in versions of the new Volkswagen Tayron, Skoda Kodiaq and Superb, the Audi A3, A5, Q7 and Q8, SEAT Leon and CUPRA Terramar.
INVESTMENT IN AFTERSALES BUSINESS KEEPS WHEELS TURNING
Volkswagen Group and its brands have been a mainstay in the Irish car market for decades. With well over half a million Volkswagen Group vehicles in operation on Irish roads every day, keeping cars on the road is an enormous challenge.
Last year, the Group recorded more than €100m worth of parts & accessory sales through around 420,000 workshop throughputs via its network of 84 dealers. Volkswagen Group Ireland invests heavily in its aftersales division and is proud of its certified technicians who ensure cars are kept on the road with the latest digital developments.
The Group’s state-of-the-art National Learning Centre opened its doors in 2015 and is a centre of excellence for the next generation of technicians and high-voltage experts. Facilities include six training rooms for physical and web-based training, and a 12-vehicle bay workshop area. With a team of 10 professionals dedicated to training the next generation of vehicles technicians, it is the largest automotive training facility in Ireland.
A YEAR OF ANNIVERSARIES IN 2025
Volkswagen Group Ireland will celebrate several milestones in 2025, including 130 years of the Skoda brand, 75 years of SEAT and 75 years of Volkswagen in Ireland.
In 1950, Ireland became the first country outside of Germany to assemble Volkswagen cars when an almond green Volkswagen Beetle with a 1100CC 25HP engine was assembled in a former tram shed on the Shelbourne Road, Dublin. When the “Ballsbridge Beetle” rolled off the assembly line, it triggered the start of an international success story and the beginning of Volkswagen as an automotive powerhouse.
A total of 22M Beetles were made worldwide between 1945 and 2003 but Ireland was well ahead of the curve. Priced at a competitive £IR499 with no added options, just 46 Beetles were sold in that first year on sale here. However, by 1952, the number rose to 2,155 as Irish motorists experienced a wave of “Beetlemania” well before the expression was even coined.
The original “Ballsbridge Beetle” will make a return to Ireland this year as part of Volkswagen Ireland’s 75th birthday celebrations, having made the journey from the world famous Autostadt at Volkswagen headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany.
With record sales and a series of milestones in 2025, Volkswagen Group Ireland CEO and Group Managing Director, Pierre Boutin, is predicting a memorable year. He said: “Ireland plays a unique role in the Volkswagen Group story, and I look forward to celebrating some of those historic milestones in 2025. In 1950, who would have thought the humble Beetle would go on to be such a hit? As we mark 75 years in Ireland, we continue to strive for the same pioneering spirit that made it one of the greatest automotive success stories of all time.
“Our 2024 successes lay the foundations for 2025. We have already begun the most significant transformation in our history as we march towards sustainable e-mobility. In 2025, we are determined to deliver record numbers of electric vehicles and help Ireland move towards its sustainability goals.”
