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For more information on this release:
E-mail: transport@cso.ie Noreen Dorgan +353 21 453 5260 Brendan Curtin +353 21 453 5120
For general information on CSO statistics:
information@cso.ie (+353) 21 453 5000 On-line ISSN 2009-5678
CSO statistical release, , 11am

Vehicles licensed for the first time

June 2015

New vehiclesJune January - June
 20142015Change 20142015Change
New private cars3,3903,92453415.8% 62,28078,66016,38026.3%
New goods vehicles1,1011,85074968.0% 8,78013,4114,63152.7%
Total new vehicles5,1236,3801,25724.5% 76,42497,86921,44528.1%

Increase of 26.3% in new private cars licensed in the first half of 2015

Figure 1 - VLFTM - New private cars licensed for the first time
go to full release

In the first half of 2015, 78,660 new private cars were licensed, a rise of 26.3% compared with the same period last year. The number of used (imported) private cars licensed fell by 10.8% compared with the same period in 2014.

In June 2015, 3,924 new private cars were licensed for the first time, an increase of 15.8% compared with June 2014. A total of 3,765 used (imported) private cars were licensed, representing a fall of 16.4% on the same month last year.

 

The licensing figures also show that:

  • Volkswagen (10,049) was the most popular make of new private cars licensed in the first half of 2015, followed by Toyota (8,353), Ford (7,720), Nissan (7,126) and Hyundai (6,970). Together these five makes represent just over half (51.1%) of all new private cars licensed. See table 3.
  • In the first half of 2015, seven out of every ten (71.0%) private cars licensed were diesel, while 95.3% of new private cars licensed in the same period were in the A/B CO2 emissions bands. See table 2B.
  • The total number of new vehicles licensed during June 2015 was 6,380 compared with 5,123 during the same month in 2014, an increase of 24.5%.  See table 1.
  • There was a 68% increase in the number of new goods vehicles licensed in June 2015, an increase of 749 vehicles bringing the total to 1,850. See table 1.
Licensing differs from registration in that a vehicle is licensed when a valid motor tax disc is issued for the first time. Registration occurs when a vehicle gets its licence plate (registration number) for the first time.
Most popular makes of new cars, first half of 2014
Volkswagen 12.1
Toyota10.9
Ford9.8
Nissan7.4
Hyundai8.2
Other51.5
Most popular makes of new cars, first half of 2015
Volkswagen 12.8
Toyota 10.6
Ford 9.8
Nissan 9.1
Hyundai 8.9
Other48.9
Table 1: Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class
Taxation ClassJune January - June
201320142015 201320142015
New vehicles       
New private cars 3,2933,3903,924 49,50362,28078,660
New goods vehicles 7451,1011,850 6,0988,78013,411
New tractors 191201198 1,1281,3551,173
New motorcycles 62103111 459554715
New exempt vehicles 245255195 2,4222,7973,154
New other 7373102 412658756
Total new vehicles 4,6095,1236,380 60,02276,42497,869
        
Used (imported) vehicles       
Used private cars 4,1834,5023,765 23,69327,60124,628
Used goods vehicles 630687683 3,1774,4994,377
Used tractors 160207139 7741,361880
Used motorcycles 153187199 763849856
Used other vehicles 325395349 1,7852,2071,885
Total used vehicles 5,4515,9785,135 30,19236,51732,626
        
Total all vehicles 10,06011,10111,515 90,214112,941130,495
Open in Excel: Vehicles licensed for the first time June 2015 Table 1 (XLS 27KB)
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Table 2A: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, June 2015
BandFuel TypeTotal
PetrolDieselPetrol & electricPetrol & ethanolElectricOther
        
A 6332,0502901332,728
B 3486098001966
C 121110000123
D 541000046
E 123000024
F 322000025
G 1400005
Not available10700007
        
Total1,0032,8673701343,924
        
1 Emission bands unavailable at time of licensing     
Open in Excel: Vehicles licensed for the first time June 2015 Table 2A (XLS 26KB)
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Table 2B: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, January-June 2015
BandFuel TypeTotal
PetrolDieselPetrol & electricPetrol & ethanolElectricOther
        
A 14,25440,533648031711755,869
B 6,76912,183137001019,099
C 3871,73670002,130
D 836450000728
E 204540000474
F 232921000316
G 1513000028
Not available1214000016
        
Total21,55355,870793031712778,660
        
1 Emission bands unavailable at time of licensing     
Open in Excel: Vehicles licensed for the first time June 2015 Table 2B (XLS 26KB)
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Table 3: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by make, June 2015
MakeJune January - June
NewUsed (imported)Total NewUsed (imported)Total
        
Audi 110286396 3,2551,9895,244
BMW 126227353 2,7091,5304,239
Chevrolet 066 01818
Citroen 78142220 1,3139992,312
Dacia2362238 2,180152,195
Fiat 522678 388121509
Ford 363542905 7,7203,60811,328
Honda 2893121 8687051,573
Hyundai 156141297 6,9708137,783
Kia 16073233 3,5294693,998
Lexus 202040 33888426
Mazda 7372145 1,3204441,764
Mercedes-Benz 64127191 1,7227672,489
Mitsubishi 242145 553138691
Nissan 210160370 7,1261,0818,207
Opel 2471248 4,609144,623
Peugeot 102218320 2,3621,2903,652
Renault 317123440 3,9287294,657
Seat 7145116 1,8042582,062
Skoda 23289321 4,8065805,386
Subaru 7613 11326139
Suzuki 192342 385146531
Toyota 344309653 8,3531,86810,221
Vauxhall 0383383 12,6492,650
Volkswagen 7484821,230 10,0493,20213,251
Volvo 5756113 9103621,272
Other 8092172 1,3497192,068
        
Total 3,9243,7657,689 78,66024,628103,288
        
The information in this table is available in much greater detail in Databases (see Statbank link below)
Open in Excel: Vehicles licensed for the first time June 2015 table 3 (XLS 28KB)
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Background Notes

Source

The vehicle licensing figures are compiled from data supplied by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport (DTTAS), Driver and Vehicle Computer Services Division. 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 DTTAS).

For new cars registered from 1 July 2008 motor tax charges are determined on the basis of the CO2 emission level, based on seven CO2 bands. Tables with CO2 emission data were added to this release from July 2008.

Vehicle licensing versus vehicle registration

Vehicle licensing differs from registration in that a vehicle is licensed when a valid motor tax disc is issued for the first time. Registration occurs when a vehicle is issued with a license plate (registration number) for the first time. Registration precedes licensing and the time lapse between them accounts for the differences which can occur between licensing and registration figures in a given month.

The question is often asked, which best reflects 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.

Definitions

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

Machines or contrivances:  Vehicles included under this category are mobile machines, forklifts, excavators and diggers.

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