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For more information on this release:
E-mail: transport@cso.ie Olive Loughnane (+353) 21 453 5281
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-5678

This release has been compiled during the COVID-19 crisis. The results contained in this release reflect some of the economic impacts of the COVID-19 situation. For further information see Press Statement Vehicles licensed for the first time April 2020

CSO statistical release, , 11am

Vehicles licensed for the first time

April 2020

 April January - April
20192020Change 20192020Change
New private cars13,7941,338-12,456-90.3% 64,65545,505-19,150-29.6%
New goods vehicles2,334738-1,596-68.4% 10,2658,083-2,182-21.3%
Total new vehicles17,3392,599-14,740-85.0% 80,02857,846-22,182-27.7%
          
Used private cars8,7281,321-7,407-84.9% 34,63421,673-12,961-37.4%
Used goods vehicles1,334307-1,027-77.0% 5,0693,742-1,327-26.2%
Total used vehicles11,2641,978-9,286-82.4% 43,79928,707-15,092-34.5%

Decrease of 90.3% in new private cars licensed in April 2020

Figure 1 New private cars licensed for the first time
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In April 2020, 1,338 new private cars were licensed, a fall of 90.3% compared with April 2019. The number of used (imported) private cars licensed decreased by 84.9% compared with the same period in 2019.

In the first four months of 2020, a total of 45,505 new private cars were licensed, a decrease of 29.6% compared with the same period last year. The number of used (imported) private cars licensed fell by 37.4% compared with the same period in 2019.

Electric and hybrid cars continue to grow in popularity. These vehicles accounted for 15.7% of all private cars licensed in the first four months of 2020, compared with 10.3% in the same period in 2019. See table 6.

The licensing figures also show that:

  • Volkswagen (151) was the most popular make of new private car licensed followed by Skoda (113), Hyundai (97), Renault (96) and Ford and Toyota with 93 each. Together these six makes represent 48.1% of all new private cars licensed in April 2020. See table 3.
  • In the first four months of 2020, 43.8% of all new private cars licensed were diesel, compared with 47.8% in the same period for 2019. Of new private cars licensed in the same period, 94.4% were in the A/B CO2 emissions bands. See table 2B.
  • There was a decrease of 68.4% in the number of new goods vehicles licensed in April 2020 bringing the total to 738. See table 1.
  • On a seasonally adjusted basis, new private cars licensed decreased by 85.1% in April 2020 compared with March 2020. The number of seasonally adjusted used (imported) private cars licensed fell by 74.9% over the same period. See table 4 and figure 4.
  • In 2020 to date, 0.2% of imported private cars licensed were less than one year old (vehicles previously registered abroad in 2020) while 1,340 (6.2%) were ten years or older. See table 5 and figure 5.
  • There were 19,929 new diesel private cars licensed in the first four months of 2020, compared with 30,875 in the same period in 2019. For used (imported) diesel private cars, the total licensed was 14,715 in the first four months of 2020. This compares with 25,193 in the same period last year. See table 6.

Registration and licensing figures may differ in a given month for a number of reasons, some of which are outlined below:

  • Vehicles registered in the latter part of a particular month may not be licensed until a later month because of the time lapse between registration and first licensing.
  • In some cases, a vehicle may be registered by a dealership in advance of a sale.
  • Registered vehicles which are not used in a public place (e.g. tractors for use exclusively on the land) may not need to be licensed.

Seasonally adjusting the Vehicle Licensing series during the COVID-19 crisis period will be challenging until the scale and shape of its impact on the time series is better understood. The initial seasonally adjusted results might be revised for some months ahead as future observations become available. Users should be aware that there is increased uncertainty around the seasonally adjusted figures during this period.

Most popular makes of new cars, April 2020
Volkswagen 11.3
Skoda 8.4
Hyundai7.2
Renault7.2
Ford7.0
Toyota7.0
Other51.9
Most popular makes of new cars, April 2019
Volkswagen 10.3
Skoda 8.5
Hyundai7.1
Renault7.2
Ford6.7
Toyota10.0
Other50.2
Table 1: Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class
Taxation ClassApril January - April
201820192020 201820192020
New vehicles    
New Private Cars 11,55713,7941,338 69,95964,65545,505
New Goods Vehicles 2,8192,334738 11,38210,2658,083
New Tractors 207221179 839942890
New Motor Cycles 14019262 556705545
New Exempt Vehicles 687585223 2,7732,7602,323
New Other 17921359 654701500
Total New Vehicles 15,58917,3392,599 86,16380,02857,846
       
Used (imported) vehicles       
Used private cars 8,6718,7281,321 33,37734,63421,673
Used goods vehicles 1,4251,334307 5,0315,0693,742
Used tractors 203232111 747886774
Used motorcycles 339366112 9841,142950
Used other vehicles 565604127 1,8482,0681,568
Total used vehicles 11,20311,2641,978 41,98743,79928,707
        
Total all vehicles 26,79228,6034,577 128,150123,82786,553
Table 2A: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, April 2020
BandFuel TypeTotal
PetrolDieselElectricPetrol & electric hybridDiesel & electric hybridPetrol or Diesel plug-in electric hybrid
A 28840010090536919
B 1071900100298
C 958000067
D 718000025
E 0400004
F 118000019
G 1200003
Not available1200003
Total414692100915361,338
Table 2B: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, January-April 2020
BandFuel TypeTotal
PetrolDieselElectricPetrol & electric hybridDiesel & electric hybridPetrol or Diesel plug-in electric hybrid
A 11,53212,1731,5955,64312698232,051
B 4,9335,81501550010,903
C 3821,11508011,506
D 1534860000639
E 191690000188
F 181550900182
G 188000026
Not available28000010
Total17,05719,9291,5955,81512698345,505
Table 3: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by make, April 2020
MakeApril January - April
NewUsed (imported)Total NewUsed (imported)Total
Audi 721522241,7932,3044,097
BMW 511431941,4832,0533,536
Citroen 153045383430813
Dacia 37643975911,066
Fiat 7101788254342
Ford 931372303,2692,4185,687
Honda 727344206911,111
Hyundai 97921894,4111,3915,802
Jaguar 6915129157286
Kia 4838862,7736403,413
Land Rover 401454667222889
Lexus 178236213449
Mazda 82028685305990
Mercedes Benz 45941391,4561,5753,031
Mini 101323179225404
Mitsubishi 171431241235476
Nissan 74781523,2531,3534,606
Opel 410419152917
Peugeot 74411152,1945492,743
Renault 96371332,0185282,546
Seat 6411751,6071951,802
Skoda 113401533,6945504,244
Ssangyong 10114216
Subaru 213362561
Suzuki 8917416158574
Tesla 4324532918347
Toyota 93561495,9011,2337,134
Vauxhall 049490754754
Volkswagen 1511493005,3312,4097,740
Volvo 1931505274901,017
Other 5111682203285
Total 1,3381,3212,659 45,50521,67367,178
The information in this table is available in much greater detail in Databases (see StatBank link below)
X-axis labelUnadjusted dataAdjusted dataTrend
April 20151316698279887
May 20159027990010037
June 20153924962010264
July 2015212901070510548
August 201585721112810853
September 201559241142611172
October 201539431132111463
November 201518741145211703
December 20158471165411890
January 2016271061226111995
February 2016211731256511997
March 2016200961154111898
April 2016148471199411743
May 2016101251126211612
June 201641431113311577
July 2016224621175811608
August 201697811199411641
September 201658421157711595
October 201638311177611451
November 201618461117011248
December 20166791033211040
January 2017266681128510857
February 2017169051061510720
March 2017171801086010608
April 2017134271045610513
May 201795811043510431
June 20173585974210350
July 2017213161086810247
August 201781051011010122
September 20174828101819994
October 2017325597849917
November 2017159495759886
December 201760194219897
January 201825813105189926
February 201816501105189963
March 20181608896729963
April 20181155794009938
May 20189362100689900
June 2018371698989870
July 201820743101899853
August 2018768196009823
September 2018439797919728
October 2018287482879588
November 2018164794459470
December 2018778114049407
January 20192227992789416
February 20191417892689482
March 20191440496679565
April 20191379497729617
May 2019912695709589
June 2019385899379481
July 20191874189519353
August 2019720292479261
September 2019410489279229
October 2019321492149234
November 2019167695369235
December 201972996219198
January 20202066588139122
February 2020132638743
March 2020102396386
April 20201338953
Table 4: Seasonally adjusted number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class
Taxation classApril 2019March 2020April 2020Monthly % change
New vehicles    
New private cars 9,7726,386953-85.1
New goods vehicles 1,9541,721642-62.7
New tractors 192168155-7.7
New motor cycles 15413050-61.5
New exempt vehicles 467454180-60.4
New other 16010744-58.9
Total new vehicles 12,6998,9662,024-77.4
    
Used (imported) vehicles    
Used private cars 8,7635,3511,344-74.9
Used goods vehicles 1,244873286-67.2
Used tractors 225187107-42.8
Used motorcycles 27830792-70.0
Used other vehicles 561381118-69.0
Total used vehicles 11,0717,0991,947-72.6
    
Total all vehicles 23,77016,0653,971-75.3
X-axis label20162017201820192020 to date
<1 year old2.11.91.91.70.2
1-2 years old13.216.718.317.614.9
3-5 years old47.849.250.850.353.1
6-9 years old29.727.324.425.625.6
Over 10 years old7.34.84.64.86.2
Table 5: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time
Private cars20162017201820192020 Jan-Apr
New141,931127,045121,157113,30545,505
Used (imported) 70,13892,50899,456108,89521,673
Total212,069219,553220,613222,20067,178
% used (imported)33.1%42.1%45.1%49.0%32.3%

Footnote: For the purpose of the analysis of the age profile of used (imported) private cars, calendar years were used to band the age groups. For example, a private car defined as less than one year old is an imported vehicle which has previously been registered abroad for the first time in the current calendar year.

Table 6: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by fuel type
Fuel typeNewUsed (imported)
April January - AprilApril January - April
20192020 20192020 20192020 20192020
Petrol5,814414 26,19417,0571,664271 6,7704,922
Diesel6,310692 30,87519,9296,416969 25,19314,715
Electric307100 1,6101,595425 177135
Hybrid1,363132 5,9766,92460576 2,4911,899
Other00 0001 22
Total13,7941,338 64,65545,505 8,7281,321 34,63421,673

Background Notes

Source

The vehicle licensing figures are compiled from data supplied by the Driver and Vehicle Computer Services Division of the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport. The data provide details on the number of private cars, goods vehicles, motor cycles and other vehicles licensed for the first time in each city and county council, classified by make and size, during a given month.

History

The release titled 'Vehicles Licensed for the First Time' commenced in January 1993. It replaced the series previously published as 'Particulars of Vehicles Registered and Licensed for the First Time'.

In January 1993, separate systems for vehicle registration and licensing were introduced. The Office of the Revenue Commissioners became responsible for the compilation of vehicle registrations while the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government retained responsibility for vehicle licensing. In January 2008, responsibility for vehicle licensing was transferred to the Department of Transport (which later became the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport).

Motor tax charges are determined on the basis of CO2 emission level (using seven CO2 bands) for all new cars registered from 1 July 2008.

The licensing process where applicable follows the registration process.

Vehicle Licensing versus Vehicle Registration

The CSO produces vehicle licensing statistics on a monthly basis. Vehicle registration data has not been published on the CSO StatBank since June 2010.

Registration and licensing figures may differ in a given month for a number of reasons, some of which are outlined below:

  • Vehicles registered in the latter part of a particular month may not be licensed until a later month because of the time lapse between registration and first licensing.
  • In some cases, a vehicle may be registered by a dealership in advance of a sale.
  • Registered vehicles which are not used in a public place (e.g. tractors for use exclusively on the land) may not need to be licensed.

The question is often asked, which reflects better vehicle sales, licensing figures or registration figures?

In practice, on a monthly basis, the licensing data is probably a better reflection of sales. In some cases, a vehicle may be registered by a dealership in advance of a sale. Whereas, typically, vehicles are only licensed at the point of sale. However, if a vehicle is purchased towards the end of a month, the buyer may wish to defer collecting and licensing it until the start of the following month. So the issue is not clear-cut.

From 31 October 1999, detailed information on agricultural vehicles is no longer published in accordance with Commission Decision 92/157/EEC as upheld on 28 May 1998.

Seasonal adjustment

Seasonal adjustment for each taxation class is conducted using a direct seasonal adjustment approach. However, the overall vehicle totals are estimated using the indirect approach, i.e. the ‘Total new vehicles’ is derived by adding all the seasonally adjusted new vehicles taxation classes. The main reason for adopting the indirect approach is to attribute the monthly and annual changes in vehicle licensing to each of its taxation classes. Seasonal adjustment models are developed for each series based on unadjusted data spanning from July 1996 to the current period. These models are reviewed on an annual basis; however seasonal factors are updated each month.

The adjustments are completed by applying the X-13-ARIMA model, developed by the U.S. Census Bureau to the unadjusted data.  This methodology estimates seasonal factors while also taking into consideration factors that impact on the quality of the seasonal adjustment such as:

• Calendar effects, e.g. the timing of Easter,

• Outliers, temporary changes and level shifts in the series.

Seasonally adjusting the Vehicle Licensing series during the COVID-19 crisis period will be challenging until the scale and shape of its impact on the time series is better understood. The initial seasonally adjusted results might be revised for some months ahead as future observations become available. Users should be aware that there is increased uncertainty around the seasonally adjusted figures during this period. 

For additional information on the use of X-13-ARIMA see https://www.census.gov/srd/www/winx13/

Definitions

Private cars:  The term 'private cars' in this release, refers to privately licensed vehicles which include hire, fleet and certain commercial vehicles.

New and used vehicles:  The term 'new vehicles' refers to new vehicles which are licensed for use in a public place, in this country, for the first time. 'Used vehicles' refers to used vehicles which are licensed for use in a public place, in this country, for the first time. In the main used vehicles are imported.

Exempt:  The term 'exempt vehicles' in this release, refers to vehicles which are licensed for the first time but are exempt from liability to pay road tax.

Exempt vehicles can be divided into four main categories:

  • State-owned
  • Diplomatic
  • Fire services
  • Disabled Drivers

Electric hybrid:  means a vehicle that derives its motive power from a combination of an electric motor and an internal combustion engine and is capable of being driven on electric propulsion alone for a material part of its normal driving cycle.

Plug-in electric hybrid:  means a vehicle that derives its motive power from a combination of an electric motor and an internal combustion engine, where the electric motor derives its power from a battery that may be charged from the internal combustion engine and an alternating current (AC) electric mains supply and is capable of being driven on electric propulsion alone for a material part of its normal driving cycle.

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