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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

May 2017

New vehiclesMay January - May
20162017Change 20162017Change
New private cars10,1259,581-544-5.4% 93,34783,761-9,586-10.3%
New goods vehicles2,5312,185-346-13.7% 15,09813,258-1,840-12.2%
Total new vehicles13,66812,833-835-6.1% 114,306102,764-11,542-10.1%

Decrease of 5.4% in new private cars licensed in May

Figure 1 VLFTM - New private cars licensed for the first time
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In May 2017, 9,581 new private cars were licensed for the first time, a decrease of 5.4% compared with May 2016. A total of 7,732 used (imported) private cars were licensed, representing a rise of 40.9% on the same month last year.

In the first five months of 2017, 83,761 new private cars were licensed, a drop of 10.3% compared with the same period last year. The number of used (imported) private cars licensed increased by 49.6% compared with the same period in 2016.

Today the CSO launched the online application Ireland's Top Motors allowing users to view vehicle licensing data and rank their own car model for a particular month.

The licensing figures also show that:

  • Volkswagen (984) was the most popular make of new private cars licensed in May 2017, followed by Renault (964), Nissan (805), and Toyota (745). Together these four makes represent more than one third (36.6%) of all new private cars licensed in May 2017. See table 3. 
  • In the first five months of 2017, almost two thirds (65.7%) of new private cars licensed were diesel, while 96.3% of new private cars licensed in the same period were in the A/B CO2 emissions bands. See table 2B. 
  • There was a 13.7% decrease in the number of new goods vehicles licensed in May 2017 compared with the same period last year bringing the total to 2,185. See table 1.
  • The total number of new vehicles licensed during May 2017 was 12,833 compared with 13,668 during the same month in 2016, a decrease of 6.1%.
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, May 2016
Volkswagen 10
Renault 7.8
Nissan 7.1
Toyota 7.5
Other67.6
Most popular makes of new cars, May 2017
Volkswagen 10.3
Renault 10.1
Nissan 8.4
Toyota 7.8
Other63.5
Table 1: Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class
Taxation ClassMay January - May
201520162017 201520162017
New vehicles       
New private cars 9,02710,1259,581 74,73693,34783,761
New goods vehicles 2,1342,5312,185 11,56115,09813,258
New tractors 225224240 9751,068948
New motorcycles 133159142 604746715
New exempt vehicles 441448453 2,9593,1983,233
New other 119181232 654849849
Total new vehicles 12,07913,66812,833 91,489114,306102,764
        
Used (imported) vehicles       
Used private cars 3,7485,4887,732 20,86325,31537,860
Used goods vehicles 6808861,340 3,6943,9255,917
Used tractors 175181304 7417371,133
Used motorcycles 183211367 6577501,344
Used other vehicles 347432595 1,5361,5662,418
Total used vehicles 5,1337,19810,338 27,49132,29348,672
        
Total all vehicles 17,21220,86623,171 118,980146,599151,436
Table 2A: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, May 2017
BandFuel TypeTotal
PetrolDieselElectricPetrol & electric hybridDiesel & electric hybridPetrol or Diesel plug-in electric hybrid
A 2,0924,851342530137,243
B 1,04490707001,958
C 681500000218
D 1176000087
E 752000059
F 47000011
G 0200002
Not available0300003
Total3,2266,048342600139,581
Table 2B: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, January-May 2017
BandFuel TypeTotal
PetrolDieselElectricPetrol & electric hybridDiesel & electric hybridPetrol or Diesel plug-in electric hybrid
A 16,89444,9373592,56419564,850
B 8,1087,56001220015,790
C 4121,60203002,017
D 1084200000528
E 494070000456
F 3359000092
G 106000016
Not available012000012
Total25,61455,0033592,68919583,761
Table 3: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by make, May 2017
MakeMay January - May
NewUsed (imported)Total NewUsed (imported)Total
Audi 4486801,1283,3393,2896,628
BMW 3874938803,1792,3005,479
Citroen 902213119981,0162,014
Dacia 246172631,9411002,041
Fiat 9061151434268702
Ford 7201,0301,7507,9785,32613,304
Honda 981792777569451,701
Hyundai 7204871,2077,8842,24110,125
Jaguar 463076444152596
Kia 4742176914,6331,0695,702
Land Rover 8831119706128834
Lexus 2684110275381656
Mazda 1831433261,6466392,285
Mercedes Benz 2313485793,2441,6904,934
Mini 4192133310411721
Mitsubishi 365389440206646
Nissan 8054181,2237,2202,0319,251
Opel 61826204,19484,202
Peugeot 3273116382,2671,5183,785
Renault 9641831,1475,3728356,207
Seat 264833472,1144592,573
Skoda 6881688565,4648856,349
Ssangyong 1121367774
Subaru 128208241123
Suzuki 9434128805188993
Toyota 7455531,2988,3152,87011,185
Vauxhall 050450422,6402,642
Volkswagen 9841,0482,0328,4345,07513,509
Volvo 1251813061,0787771,855
Other 207191140365505
Total 9,5817,73217,313 83,76137,860121,621
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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