New analysis by DoneDeal Cars of official vehicle registration data shows that Brexit has permanently rewired where Ireland’s second-hand cars come from. The UK, which supplied more than 108,000 used cars to Ireland in 2019 which is a 95% share of the entire import market, has been reduced to a minor supplier. In the first half of 2026 just 8,475 UK cars were imported, a 14% share, down from 12,847 units and 18% in 2025. The volume lost to UK tariffs and VAT has not disappeared from the market; it has simply moved.
Japan has become the new default source. Japanese imports numbered just over 5,000 in 2019 which is a 4.6% share, but reached 36,043 units and half the total market in 2025. In the first six months of 2026 alone, 33,065 cars arrived from Japan, a 55% share, comfortably ahead of every other origin combined. Total import volumes have recovered strongly across all sources: 71,813 cars arrived in 2025, and the first six months of 2026 already account for 59,895 — a pace that would surpass any full year since 2020. The very strict Japanese equivalent to Ireland’s National Car Test (NCT) is called the Shaken and its tough criteria means that used Japanese imports are often of excellent quality and high public transport use in Japan means they are often exceptionally low-mileage too. Irish dealers report that they have surprisingly little to do to Japanese import models to get them showroom ready, despite having to make modifications such as changing radios, sat nav systems and providing adaptor cables for PHEV and EV models.
Volkswagen, not Toyota, is the top Japanese import
The detail most likely to surprise Irish buyers is what is actually coming from Japan. European marques — overwhelmingly German premium models originally sold new into the Japanese market and now re-exported to Ireland — made up 63% of all Japanese-sourced imports in 2025. Volkswagen alone accounted for 10,996 units, making it the single largest make arriving from Japan, ahead of Toyota with 6209. A market widely assumed to be a route for affordable Japanese runabouts is, in practice, a significant channel for German cars with a Japanese registration history. German brands such as Volkswagen are often seen as status symbols on the Japanese market, but quickly become expensive to retain due to the country’s strict Shaken vehicle inspections and therefore make appealing purchases for Irish car dealers where they find a very willing market for these cars.
Because Vehicle Registration Tax is banded on CO₂ emissions, the tariff and VAT burden on UK stock is now only worth absorbing at the cleanest end of the range. The surviving UK trade reflects that: diesel has fallen from 47% of UK imports in 2023 to just 18% of it, electric and plug-in hybrid together now make up 63% of UK-sourced cars, and average emissions from UK imports have dropped from 91g to 65g CO₂/km. Japanese supply carries no equivalent filter. Petrol and hybrid still account for 84% of arrivals from Japan, battery-electric is close to absent at 0.5%, and average emissions have moved only from 131g to 126g CO₂/km. Weighted by volume across both source markets (UK & Japan), the average imported car emitted 115g CO₂/km in 2023 and 114g CO₂/km in the first half of 2026 — Ireland is importing much cleaner British cars and far more Japanese ones, and the two effects have almost exactly cancelled each other out.
“At DoneDeal Cars we have seen a huge change in the nature of imports to the Irish market. Brexit didn’t just reduce the flow of used cars from Britain, it rerouted it through Japan, and a lot of what’s arriving from Japan isn’t Japanese at all — it’s German. Buyers assuming a ‘Japanese import’ is a Corolla or a Civic should have a look at the numbers. DoneDeal Cars is your home for good quality Japanese import cars, and you can filter in the Ownership and History section of the site by country of origin under Japanese Import.”
— Paddy Comyn, Head of Automotive Content and Communications, DoneDeal Cars