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Methodology Previous Releases
International comparison:
See also:
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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 2016

New vehiclesJuneJanuary - June
20152016Change20152016Change
New private cars3,9244,1432195.6%78,66097,49018,83023.9%
New goods vehicles1,8502,03618610.1%13,41117,1343,72327.8%
Total new vehicles6,3807,01863810.0%97,869121,32423,45524.0%

Increase of 23.9% in new private cars licensed in the first half of 2016

Figure 1 VLFTM - New private cars licensed for the first time
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In the first half of 2016, a total of 97,490 new private cars were licensed, a rise of 23.9% compared with the same period last year. The number of used (imported) private cars licensed rose by 25.0% compared with the same period in 2015.

In June 2016, 4,143 new private cars were licensed for the first time, an increase of 5.6% compared with June 2015. A total of 5,459 used (imported) private cars were licensed, representing an increase of 45.0% on the same month last year.

The licensing figures also show that:

  • Volkswagen (10,593) was the most popular make of new private cars licensed in the first half of 2016, followed by Toyota (10,384), Hyundai (9,864), Ford (9,631) and Nissan (8,159). Together these five makes represent 49.9% of all new private cars licensed. See table 3.
  • In the first half of 2016, seven out of every ten (70.3%) new private cars licensed were diesel fuelled, while 96.3% 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 2016 was 7,018 compared with 6,380 during the same month in 2015, an increase of 10.0%. See table 1.
  • There was a 10.1% increase in the number of new goods vehicles licensed in June 2016, bringing the total to 2,036. 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, January-June 2015
Volkswagen 12.8
Toyota10.6
Hyundai8.9
Ford9.8
Nissan9.1
Other48.9
Most popular makes of new cars, January- June 2016
Volkswagen 10.9
Toyota10.7
Hyundai10.1
Ford9.9
Nissan8.4
Other50.1
Table 1: Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class
Taxation ClassJune January - June
201420152016 201420152016
New vehicles       
New private cars 3,3903,9244,143 62,28078,66097,490
New goods vehicles 1,1011,8502,036 8,78013,41117,134
New tractors 201198207 1,3551,1731,275
New motorcycles 103111156 554715902
New exempt vehicles 255195333 2,7973,1543,531
New other 73102143 658756992
Total new vehicles 5,1236,3807,018 76,42497,869121,324
        
Used (imported) vehicles       
Used private cars 4,5023,7655,459 27,60124,62830,774
Used goods vehicles 687683978 4,4994,3774,903
Used tractors 207139204 1,361880941
Used motorcycles 187199271 8498561,021
Used other vehicles 395349422 2,2071,8851,988
Total used vehicles 5,9785,1357,334 36,51732,62639,627
        
Total all vehicles 11,10111,51514,352 112,941130,495160,951
Table 2A: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, June 2016
BandFuel TypeTotal
PetrolDieselElectricPetrol & electric hybridDiesel & electric hybridPetrol or Diesel plug-in hybrid electricOther
A 7672,3828480703,212
B 371353011000735
C 148501000100
D 11350000046
E 5270000032
F 0130000013
G 10000001
Not available04000004
Total1,1692,8998600704,143
Table 2B: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, January-June 2016
BandFuel TypeTotal
PetrolDieselElectricPetrol & electric hybridDiesel & electric hybridPetrol or Diesel plug-in hybrid electricOther
A 17,42657,1562871,3682145076,384
B 8,7678,542017500017,484
C 4861,852070002,345
D 15340700100561
E 4836100000409
F 4421400000258
G 18140000032
Not available0170000017
Total26,94268,5632871,5503145097,490
 
Table 3: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by make, June 2016
MakeJune January - June
NewUsed (imported)Total NewUsed (imported)Total
        
Audi 1464495953,9412,4776,418
BMW 1623314933,5071,7965,303
Citroen 621862481,0201,1302,150
Dacia 145181632,758472,805
Fiat 404686440193633
Ford 3147921,1069,6314,41314,044
Honda 241641881,0451,0092,054
Hyundai 2162354519,8641,30811,172
Jaguar 172441331132463
Kia 1751202954,5016915,192
Land Rover 501666904991,003
Lexus 193554401191592
Mazda 80881681,9205162,436
Mercedes Benz 1501903402,4561,0913,547
Mini 315788505297802
Mitsubishi 152237611125736
Nissan 2162724888,1591,4099,568
Opel 29332965,569135,582
Peugeot 972463432,8361,5514,387
Renault 3971385355,6427346,376
Seat 71681391,7633282,091
Skoda 2101403506,3327067,038
Ssangyong 3031252127
Subaru 2579530125
Suzuki 502979768212980
Toyota 39847287010,3842,52912,913
Vauxhall 046046002,7282,728
Volkswagen 6856961,38110,5934,10514,698
Volvo 58941521,2435201,763
Other 176380146392538
Total 4,1435,4599,602 97,49030,774128,264
        
The information in this table is available in much greater detail in Databases (see Statbank link below)

Background Notes

Source

The vehicle licensing figures are compiled from data supplied by the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport, 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 the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport).

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.  

The licensing process where applicable follows the registration process.

Vehicle Licensing versus Vehicle Registration

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

  • Vehicles which under the previous system would have been licensed in the latter part of a particular month may not now be licensed until a later month because of the time lapse between registration and first licensing.
  • 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.

Definitions

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

Second-hand:  The term 'second-hand vehicles' in this release, refers to imported used vehicles which are licensed for use in a public place, in this country, for the first time.

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.

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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