DUBLIN, June 8 (Xinhua) -- Ireland's new car sales decreased by nearly 3 percent in May year-on-year, but its electric car (e-car) sales continued to grow at a double-digit speed, according to data released by the country's Central Statistics Office on Wednesday.
In May, a total of 7,120 new cars were sold in Ireland, down 2.95 percent compared with the same month last year.
Of all the new cars sold in May, 1,527 were electric cars, including 1,077 electric-only cars and 450 plug-in hybrid electric cars, up 25.06 percent compared with 1,221 electric cars sold a year ago.
In the January-May period, a total of 58,494 new cars were sold in Ireland, up 6.65 percent year-on-year.
Of all the new cars sold in the first five months, 12,438 were electric cars, including 7,825 electric-only cars and 4,613 plug-in hybrid electric cars, up nearly 71 percent compared with the same period of last year.
Electric cars accounted for 21.26 percent of all the new cars sold in Ireland in the first five months, a year-on-year increase of nearly 8 percentage points.
Ireland plans to increase the number of electric vehicles to 945,000 by 2030. This includes 845,000 electric cars. There were an estimated 45,000 electric vehicles in Ireland at the end of last year.
The Irish government intends to ban the sales of fossil-fuel cars by 2030 and the use of such cars by 2045. ■
