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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 May 2020

CSO statistical release, , 11am

Vehicles licensed for the first time

May 2020

 May January - May
20192020Change 20192020Change
New private cars9,1261,490-7,636-83.7% 73,78146,995-26,786-36.3%
New goods vehicles2,514744-1,770-70.4% 12,7798,827-3,952-30.9%
Total new vehicles12,8632,831-10,032-78.0% 92,89160,677-32,214-34.7%
          
Used private cars9,0621,170-7,892-87.1% 43,69622,843-20,853-47.7%
Used goods vehicles1,385343-1,042-75.2% 6,4544,085-2,369-36.7%
Total used vehicles11,9201,833-10,087-84.6% 55,71930,540-25,179-45.2%

Decrease of 83.7% in new private cars licensed in May 2020

Figure 1 New private cars licensed for the first time
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In May 2020, 1,490 new private cars were licensed, a fall of 83.7% compared with May 2019. The number of used (imported) private cars licensed decreased by 87.1% compared with the same period in 2019.

In the first five months of 2020, a total of 46,995 new private cars were licensed, a decrease of 36.3% compared with the same period last year. The number of used (imported) private cars licensed fell by 47.7% compared with the same period in 2019.

Electric and hybrid cars continue to grow in popularity. These vehicles accounted for 18.9% of new private cars licensed in the first five months of 2020, compared with 11.9% in the same period in 2019. See table 6.

The licensing figures also show that:

  • Volkswagen (197) was the most popular make of new private car licensed followed by BMW (126), Hyundai (113), Ford (99) and Skoda (97). Together these five makes represent 42.4% of all new private cars licensed in May 2020. See table 3.
  • In the first five months of 2020, 43.8% of all new private cars licensed were diesel, compared with 47.5% in the same period for 2019. Of new private cars licensed in the same period, 94.3% were in the A/B CO2 emissions bands. See table 2B.
  • There was a decrease of 70.4% in the number of new goods vehicles licensed in May 2020 bringing the total to 744. See table 1.
  • The number of new electric cars licensed from January 2020 - May 2020 (7132) is 3.3% higher than the corresponding period in 2019 (6903). See table 6.
  • In 2020 to date, 0.2% of imported private cars licensed were less than one year old (vehicles previously registered abroad in 2020) while 1,411 (6.2%) were ten years or older. See table 5 and figure 5.
  • There were 20,593 new diesel private cars licensed in the first five months of 2020, compared with 35,032 in the same period in 2019. For used (imported) diesel private cars, the total licensed was 15,499 in the first five months of 2020. This compares with 31,680 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 outli ned 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, May 2020
Volkswagen 13.2
BMW8.5
Hyundai7.6
Ford6.6
Skoda6.5
Other57.6
Most popular makes of new cars, May 2019
Volkswagen 12.5
BMW6.4
Hyundai6.5
Ford6.7
Skoda6.1
Other61.8
Table 1: Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class
Taxation ClassMay January - May
201820192020 201820192020
New vehicles    
New Private Cars 9,3629,1261,490 79,32173,78146,995
New Goods Vehicles 2,5392,514744 13,92112,7798,827
New Tractors 243264198 1,0821,2061,088
New Motor Cycles 15421486 710919631
New Exempt Vehicles 541491279 3,3143,2512,602
New Other 17625434 830955534
Total New Vehicles 13,01512,8632,831 99,17892,89160,677
       
Used (imported) vehicles       
Used private cars 8,8229,0621,170 42,19943,69622,843
Used goods vehicles 1,4161,385343 6,4476,4544,085
Used tractors 237295122 9841,181896
Used motorcycles 37445682 1,3581,5981,032
Used other vehicles 617722116 2,4652,7901,684
Total used vehicles 11,46611,9201,833 53,45355,71930,540
        
Total all vehicles 24,48124,7834,664 152,631148,61091,217
Table 2A: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, May 2020
BandFuel TypeTotal
PetrolDieselElectricPetrol & electric hybridDiesel & electric hybridPetrol or Diesel plug-in electric hybrid
A 3303791471078851,056
B 1191900700316
C 1444000058
D 424000028
E 011000011
F 111010013
G 2200004
Not available1300004
Total4716641471158851,490
Table 2B: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, January-May 2020
BandFuel TypeTotal
PetrolDieselElectricPetrol & electric hybridDiesel & electric hybridPetrol or Diesel plug-in electric hybrid
A 11,86212,5521,7425,7501341,06733,107
B 5,0526,00501620011,219
C 3961,15908011,564
D 1575100000667
E 191800000199
F 1916601000195
G 2010000030
Not available311000014
Total17,52820,5931,7425,9301341,06846,995
Table 3: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by make, May 2020
MakeMay January - May
NewUsed (imported)Total NewUsed (imported)Total
Audi 691141831,8622,4184,280
BMW 1261072331,6092,1603,769
Citroen 163450399464863
Dacia 343371,009941,103
Fiat 3172091271362
Ford 991422413,3682,5605,928
Honda 1039494307301,160
Hyundai 113611744,5241,4525,976
Jaguar 51621134173307
Kia 76421182,8496823,531
Land Rover 351449702236938
Lexus 81422244227471
Mazda 1912317043171,021
Mercedes Benz 701021721,5261,6773,203
Mini 12820191233424
Mitsubishi 12820253243496
Nissan 58731313,3111,4264,737
Opel 362389514955
Peugeot 6227892,2565762,832
Renault 85211062,1035492,652
Seat 375421,6442001,844
Skoda 97271243,7915774,368
Ssangyong 00014216
Subaru 213382664
Suzuki 16622432164596
Tesla 6116239019409
Toyota 93751685,9941,3087,302
Vauxhall 038380792792
Volkswagen 1971243215,5282,5338,061
Volvo 3720575645101,074
Other 2171984220304
Total 1,4901,1702,660 46,99522,84369,838
The information in this table is available in much greater detail in Databases (see StatBank link below)
X-axis labelUnadjusted dataAdjusted dataTrend
May 20159027992910027
June 20153924966910244
July 2015212901055210528
August 201585721116610846
September 201559241146711184
October 201539431136111491
November 201518741149111738
December 20158471169211919
January 2016271061226912007
February 2016211731254911994
March 2016200961152811890
April 2016148471197911737
May 2016101251125311612
June 201641431114411586
July 2016224621181211622
August 201697811199311654
September 201658421157411601
October 201638311177011447
November 201618461115711233
December 20166791031611016
January 2017266681125110824
February 2017169051057010681
March 2017171801082510572
April 2017134271042510490
May 201795811040010426
June 20173585972010357
July 2017213161106410258
August 201781051007710124
September 20174828101409979
October 2017325597419883
November 2017159495239838
December 201760193669847
January 201825813104779883
February 201816501104949933
March 20181608896619947
April 20181155793949938
May 20189362100649913
June 2018371698979888
July 201820743102879866
August 2018768195839820
September 2018439797559705
October 2018287482489548
November 2018164793879425
December 2018778113339369
January 20192227992589398
February 20191417892819486
March 20191440496919584
April 20191379498079643
May 2019912695969612
June 2019385899749495
July 20191874188989352
August 2019720292549246
September 2019410489109201
October 2019321491799200
November 2019167694909205
December 201972995829181
January 20202066588169128
February 20201326387829046
March 2020102396423
April 20201338960
May 202014901663
Table 4: Seasonally adjusted number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class
Taxation classMay 2019April 2020May 2020Monthly % change
New vehicles    
New private cars 9,5969601,66373.2
New goods vehicles 2,1106486530.8
New tractors 181154150-2.6
New motor cycles 167507142.0
New exempt vehicles 48518029463.3
New other 1724424-45.5
Total new vehicles 12,7112,0362,85540.2
    
Used (imported) vehicles    
Used private cars 8,9571,3271,247-6.0
Used goods vehicles 1,22529232812.3
Used tractors 21910699-6.6
Used motorcycles 3169260-34.8
Used other vehicles 585114103-9.6
Total used vehicles 11,3021,9311,837-4.9
    
Total all vehicles 24,0133,9674,69218.3
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

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 5: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time
Private cars20162017201820192020 Jan-May
New141,931127,045121,157113,30546,995
Used (imported) 70,13892,50899,456108,89522,843
Total212,069219,553220,613222,20069,838
% used (imported)33.1%42.1%45.1%49.0%32.7%
Table 6: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by fuel type
Fuel typeNewUsed (imported)
May January - MayMay January - May
20192020 20192020 20192020 20192020
Petrol3,785471 29,97917,5281,824247 8,5945,169
Diesel4,157664 35,03220,5936,487784 31,68015,499
Electric257147 1,8671,742375 214140
Hybrid927208 6,9037,132712134 3,2032,033
Other00 0020 52
Total9,1261,490 73,78146,995 9,0621,170 43,69622,843

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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