Vehicle digital platform CarsIreland.ie and Cartell.ie can reveal the results of a joint analysis on the used car market to determine the most popular cars in Ireland in 2022.

For this study Cartell.ie looked at the most popular private models so far in 2022 by total numbers of used-car transactions, for both indigenous and imported vehicles. Those results were then compared with data from CarsIreland.ie which looked, firstly, at the most-popular-searched-marques across its site in 2022, and, then, at the most popular models.

Table 1: Most Popular Models in the Irish fleet (Private Used and Imported YTD 2022) (Source: Cartell Carstat)

Rank	Model	Number
1	GOLF	14053
2	FOCUS	13066
3	PASSAT	9221
4	COROLLA	8775
5	QASHQAI	7500
6	YARIS	6331
7	FIESTA	6194
8	A4	6030
9	POLO	5834
10	520	5716

The results show that the top two models, in terms of actual purchases of private vehicles in the Irish fleet, used and imported, in the year to date in 2022 were the VW Golf and the Ford Focus. And the equivalent top-two on the CarsIreland.ie list, in other words, those vehicles most-searched by a prospective buyer were likewise the VW Golf and the Ford Focus. However, when we looked at the overall most-searched-marques on Carsireland the results showed that both Audi and BMW entered the top-3 each constituting 9% of the overall number of searches on the site so far in 2022.

These results highlight both the popularity of the Golf and Focus end-to-end in the sales cycle from initial search by the potential buyer through to a completed transaction for the vehicle, and, interestingly, that potential buyers are eyeing up more exclusive marques in the early stages of their search – Audi and BMW.  This shows that significant volumes of searches early-on in the buying cycle may be aspirational or may be indicative of the prospective buyer starting off his or her search in the marketplace by focusing on the higher-end of the market, considering values, before ultimately deciding to purchase in a different segment. Evidence of this trend can be seen further down the list where the BMW 5 series, the Audi A4, Audi A6, BMW 3 Series and Mercedes Benz E Class all appear in the top-10 on the list of most-searched vehicles on CarsIreland.ie in 2022.

Table 2: Most Popular Marques Searched on CarsIreland (2022) (Source: CarsIreland intelligence)

Ranking	Marque	Percentage of total searches
1	Volkswagen	12%
2	Audi	9%
3	BMW	9%
4	Ford	8%
5	Toyota	8%
6	Mercedes	7%
7	Hyundai	6%
8	Skoda	5%
9	Nissan	4%
10	Kia	4%

Table 3: Most Popular Models Searched on CarsIreland (2022) (Source: CarsIreland intelligence)

Ranking	Marque	Percentage of total searches
1	Volkswagen Golf	4%
2	Ford Focus	3%
3	BMW 5 Series	2.2%
4	Nissan Qashqai	1.8%
5	VW Passat	1.7%
6	Audi A4	1.7%
7	Audi A6	1.7%
8	Hyundai Tucson	1.6%
9	BMW 3 Series	1.6%
10	Mercedes Benz E Class	1.6%

Ross Conlon, CEO CarsIreland.ie and Group Director New Business at Mediahuis Ireland, commented:

“These results show, on the Cartell.ie side, that buyers are opting for similar vehicles to last year: the Golf and the Focus again occupy the top two spots. However, earlier in the purchase-cycle prospective buyers are opting to consider other vehicles: the CarsIreland.ie results do not match like-for-like with the Cartell.ie results – Audi and BMW feature in the top-3 – tending to show purchasers are possibly initially considering what their budget can stretch to or are simply viewing aspirational vehicles before settling on a different purchase.”