Edward Garavan looks to the new year as Toyota end 2025 as Ireland's top selling brand
What was your most significant recent car launch and what’s on the way for 2026?
October 2025 saw our most significant vehicle launch in recent years and it marked a turning point in Toyota’s electrification journey as we unveiled four new models.
The clear ‘hero’ is the all-electric Toyota C-HR+, with up to 606km of range and a bold new design; it sets the benchmark for Toyota’s future by combining striking style with cutting-edge EV performance.
Alongside it, we unveiled the bZ (previously known as the bZ4X), further expanding our EV line-up with up to 567km of range, meaning we now have two brand-new all-electric models available to customers.
We are, of course, also strengthening our hybrid line-up, having launched the new hybrid and plug-in hybrid models of the iconic RAV4, as well as our most affordable and fun hybrid — the new Aygo X Hybrid.
We are rolling out these new models quickly.
The bZ and Aygo X Hybrid will arrive in January 2026, followed by the Toyota C-HR+ and RAV4 Hybrid in March, with the RAV4 Plug-in Hybrid on sale from the summer.
The arrival of these four new models means that we will have our best ever product line-up and most electrified range for 2026.
We close 2025 as Ireland’s topselling car brand for the fifth consecutive year and look forward to an even more exciting 2026!
How would you describe your Unique Selling Point (USP)?
We have two principal USPs — our Toyota brand and our dealer network. Our Toyota brand, synonymous with quality, durability and reliability, is built on trust and progress.
Toyota has always been at the forefront of innovation in the motor industry. Toyota was the first vehicle brand to cease production of diesel cars and pioneered the launch of hybrid technology.
It continues this foresight today with its carefully thought-out electrified or “multi-path” strategy, whereby a suite of electrified powertrains (hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric) is made available to customers and society, at the right time and to suit individual needs, with carbon reduction being a priority.
With 41 dealerships nationwide, Toyota dealers are recognised as the best in their local town.
They put the customer at the heart of everything they do, ensuring exceptional service and care at every stage of ownership, and are highly respected in their local communities.
With the dealer network supported by us at Toyota Ireland as distributor, we are proud of our strong dealer/ distributor relationship and single customer focus.
This is embodied in the famous phrase “Ní neart go cur le chéile” —There is no strength without unity — making Toyota the leading brand of choice for Irish drivers.
How do you view competition from Chinese manufacturers?
There’s no doubt that Chinese manufacturers are expanding their model line-ups and gradually increasing their market share.
Their focus is primarily on the electric and plug-in hybrid segments, which combined still represent less than half of the total Irish market.
We are confident that our unique selling points of the trust, reliability and foresight of the Toyota brand, together with the strength of our dealer network, and the fact that we are a 100 per cent Irish familyowned distributor in our 52nd year, differentiate us as a uniquely Irish leading car brand at the present time and into the future.
How big a share of the market do you expect EVs to reach in 2026?
With more and more manufacturers expanding their EV product ranges for 261 registrations, I fully expect this trend to continue.
EV sales represent 19 per cent of the overall vehicle mix for 2025 to date and it would not surprise me if they account for around 25 per cent of Irish passenger car registrations in 2026.
With the new exciting Toyota EV models discussed earlier, positioned in the two largest-selling segments of the Irish vehicle market (the C-HR+ for the medium SUV, and bZ in the large family SUV segment), we look forward to being part of this growth, with an industry-leading battery guarantee plus highly competitive pricing, finance options and specifications.
In line with our “multi-path” strategy of offering customers the right options to suit their individual circumstances, hybrid and plugin hybrid vehicle sales will remain core vehicle powertrains for Toyota, ensuring every customer is happy with the vehicle that best fits their lifestyle.
So for 2026 we are excited to be offering more choice than ever before.
October 2025 saw our most significant vehicle launch in recent years and it marked a turning point in Toyota’s electrification journey as we unveiled four new models. Picture Conor McCabe Photography.
Can you predict a trend in the market for next year?
I don’t see a new trend emerging, but rather a continuation of customers moving away from diesel towards hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles.
Fully electric vehicles will continue to gather pace in the medium and large SUV segments, which is exactly where our two new EVs (the Toyota C-HR+ and bZ) sit, both at the same retail price from €41,355, so customers can choose the car that best suits them.
In the other vehicle segments, where sales volumes remain lower, hybrid continues to be the most reassuring powertrain for peace of mind.
Looking ahead, software-defined vehicles, in which many of the vehicle’s features, functions and capabilities are controlled or enhanced by software rather than fixed by hardware alone, will become more mainstream, with the new RAV4 equipped with Toyota’s latest Arene software.
This will take further shape over the next three to five years.
Photo: Edward Garavan, Toyota Ireland. Picture Conor McCabe Photography.
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