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Extra information
For more information on this release:
E-mail: transport@cso.ie Olive Loughnane (+353) 21 453 5281 Esther Deane (+353) 21 4535322 Noreen Dorgan (+353) 21 4535260
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 October 2020.

CSO statistical release, , 11am

Vehicles licensed for the first time

October 2020

 October January - October
20192020Change 20192020Change
New private cars3,2144,18997530.3% 110,90081,809-29,091-26.2%
New goods vehicles1,6172,51389655.4% 22,84919,251-3,598-15.7%
Other new vehicles62275913722.0% 11,1049,986-1,118-10.1%
Total new vehicles5,4537,4612,00836.8% 144,853111,046-33,807-23.3%
          
Used private cars10,9419,543-1,398-12.8% 91,02661,731-29,295-32.2%
Used goods vehicles1,3221,4491279.6% 12,7679,350-3,417-26.8%
Other used vehicles1,0811,20212111.2% 11,2568,841-2,415-21.5%
Total used vehicles13,34412,194-1,150-8.6% 115,04979,922-35,127-30.5%

Increase of 30.3% in new private cars licensed in October 2020

Figure 1 Private cars licensed for the first time, October 2016 - 2020
go to full release

In October 2020, 4,189 new private cars were licensed, a rise of 30.3% compared with October 2019. The number of used (imported) private cars licensed decreased by 12.8% compared with the same period in 2019.

In the first ten months of 2020, a total of 81,809 new private cars were licensed, a decrease of 26.2% compared with the same period last year. The number of used (imported) private cars licensed fell by 32.2% compared with the same period in 2019.

Electric and hybrid cars continue to grow in popularity. These two categories of vehicles combined accounted for 21.8% of new private cars licensed in October 2020, compared with 13.6% in the same period in 2019. The number of new hybrid and new electric cars licensed between January and October grew by 1,644 (15.3%) and 625 (20.0%) respectively despite an overall drop in new cars licensed for the period. See table 6.

The licensing figures also show that:

  • Volkswagen (574) was the most popular make of new private car licensed followed by Ford (382), Skoda (350), Toyota (291) and Peugeot (247). Together these five makes represent 44.0% of all new private cars licensed in October 2020. See table 3.
  • In the first ten months of 2020, 42.9% of all new private cars licensed were diesel, compared with 46.9% in the same period for 2019. Of new private cars licensed in the same period, 94.5% were in the A/B CO2 emissions bands. See table 2B.
  • There was an increase of 896 (55.4%) in the number of new goods vehicles licensed in October 2020 bringing the total licensed for the first ten months of the year to 19,251. See table 1.
  • In 2020 to date, the majority (56.2%) of imported private cars licensed were three to five years old while 3,008 (4.9%) were ten or more years old. See figure 5.
  • There were 35,067 new diesel private cars licensed in the first ten months of 2020, compared with 52,046 in the same period in 2019. For used (imported) diesel private cars, the total licensed was 40,408 in the first ten months of 2020. This compares with 65,670 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, October 2020
Volkswagen 13.7
Ford 9.1
Skoda8.4
Toyota6.9
Peugeot5.9
Other56
Most popular makes of new cars, October 2019
Volkswagen 13.2
Ford 8.6
Skoda7.7
Toyota5.4
Peugeot3.1
Other61.9
Table 1: Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class
Taxation ClassOctober January - October
201820192020 201820192020
New vehicles    
New Private Cars 2,8743,2144,189 118,732110,90081,809
New Goods Vehicles 1,6191,6172,513 23,66322,84919,251
New Tractors 13594131 1,8651,9961,994
New Motor Cycles 114115134 1,4371,7191,595
New Exempt Vehicles 269325421 5,6905,7135,387
New Other 758873 1,6141,6761,010
Total New Vehicles 5,0865,4537,461 153,001144,853111,046
       
Used (imported) vehicles       
Used private cars 9,06710,9419,543 84,50291,02661,731
Used goods vehicles 1,3021,3221,449 12,50912,7679,350
Used tractors 173192273 1,8652,2172,039
Used motorcycles 246257365 2,8843,2252,797
Used other vehicles 547632564 5,1145,8144,005
Total used vehicles 11,33513,34412,194 106,874115,04979,922
        
Total all vehicles 16,42118,79719,655 259,875259,902190,968
Table 2A: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, October 2020
BandFuel TypeTotal
PetrolDieselElectricPetrol & electric hybridDiesel & electric hybridPetrol or Diesel plug-in electric hybrid
A 1,2051,103399311531343,205
B 33740701100755
C 14940500113
D 1439000053
E 218000121
F 332000035
G 1500006
Not available0100001
Total1,5761,699399327531354,189
Table 2B: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, January-October 2020
BandFuel TypeTotal
PetrolDieselElectricPetrol & electric hybridDiesel & electric hybridPetrol or Diesel plug-in electric hybrid
A 21,28721,6983,7449,2794512,33058,789
B 8,3299,88802870018,504
C 6131,884022012,520
D 28385803001,144
E 353330101370
F 3536501100411
G 2625000051
Not available416000020
Total30,61235,0673,7449,6034512,33281,809
Table 3: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by make, October 2020
MakeOctober January - October
NewUsed (imported)Total NewUsed (imported)Total
Audi 2141,0671,2813,4056,62710,032
BMW 1589501,1082,9076,1249,031
Citroen 1001392399031,0551,958
Dacia 127341611,8662132,079
Fiat 231401632258011,026
Ford 3829611,3436,3466,48512,831
Honda 322282607381,8212,559
Hyundai 1716187897,1163,99611,112
Jaguar 187795257503760
Kia 2382554935,0401,8216,861
Land Rover 421632051,0318571,888
Lexus 151171323836761,059
Mazda 471141611,1997761,975
Mercedes Benz 1197078262,7274,7097,436
Mini 3783120392545937
Mitsubishi 141331473897651,154
Nissan 2084997075,0283,7468,774
Opel 11131141,80991,818
Peugeot 2472555024,3161,4625,778
Renault 2121743863,9591,3555,314
Seat 2321333652,9386973,635
Skoda 3503366866,6051,7888,393
Ssangyong 347531265
Subaru 2795259111
Suzuki 47721198624431,305
Tesla 83119471651767
Toyota 2914897809,3253,44412,769
Vauxhall 029529501,9191,919
Volkswagen 5741,1461,7209,9556,95716,912
Volvo 822453271,0911,4762,567
Other 108898176539715
Total 4,1899,54313,732 81,80961,731143,540
The information in this table is available in much greater detail in Databases (see StatBank link below)
X-axis labelUnadjusted dataAdjusted dataTrend
October 201539431136111491
November 201518741149111738
December 20158471169211919
January 2016271061226912007
February 2016211731254911993
March 2016200961152611889
April 2016148471197711736
May 2016101251125311612
June 201641431114511586
July 2016224621181511623
August 201697811199511655
September 201658421157611602
October 201638311176511447
November 201618461115911233
December 20166791031511014
January 2017266681125110822
February 2017169051056910679
March 2017171801082010570
April 2017134271042110489
May 201795811040110426
June 20173585972310359
July 2017213161107210261
August 201781051008410127
September 20174828101449979
October 2017325597319881
November 2017159495209833
December 201760193579839
January 201825813104709873
February 201816501104849922
March 20181608896499938
April 20181155793869934
May 20189362100629917
June 2018371699029899
July 201820743103289881
August 2018768195959836
September 2018439797609716
October 2018287482249550
November 2018164793659416
December 2018778112959353
January 20192227992369377
February 20191417892609465
March 20191440496779566
April 20191379497989633
May 2019912695929613
June 2019385899359504
July 20191874189809364
August 2019720292559251
September 2019410489249193
October 2019321491219176
November 2019167694469166
December 201972995299136
January 20202066587749082
February 20201326387459007
March 20201023964106394
April 20201338958940
May 2020149016611655
June 2020218949954922
July 20201532973897543
August 202073609716
September 2020574712155
October 2020418912204
Table 4: Seasonally adjusted number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class
Taxation classOctober 2019September 2020October 2020Monthly % change
New vehicles    
New private cars 9,12112,15512,2040.4
New goods vehicles 1,9752,8683,0245.4
New tractors 145236210-11.0
New motor cycles 152184183-0.5
New exempt vehicles 47953464520.8
New other 140126123-2.4
Total new vehicles 12,01216,10316,3891.8
    
Used (imported) vehicles    
Used private cars 9,4458,4138,4430.4
Used goods vehicles 1,2071,3171,3845.1
Used tractors 208327309-5.5
Used motorcycles 290445408-8.3
Used other vehicles 614595569-4.4
Total used vehicles 11,76411,09711,1130.1
    
Total all vehicles 23,77627,20027,5021.1
X-axis label20162017201820192020 to date
<1 year old2.11.91.91.70.923361034164358
1-2 years old13.216.718.317.617.1340169444849
3-5 years old47.849.250.850.356.2002883478317
6-9 years old29.727.324.425.620.8695793037534
Over 10 years old7.34.84.64.84.8727543697656

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-Oct
New141,931127,045121,157113,30581,809
Used (imported) 70,13892,50899,456108,89561,731
Total212,069219,553220,613222,200143,540
% used (imported)33.1%42.1%45.1%49.0%43.0%
Table 6: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by fuel type
Fuel typeNewUsed (imported)
October January - OctoberOctober January - October
20192020 20192020 20192020 20192020
Petrol1,1661,576 44,99330,6122,1972,522 18,16214,899
Diesel1,6111,699 52,04635,0677,8505,973 65,67040,408
Electric215399 3,1193,7447065 490345
Hybrid222515 10,74212,386823982 6,6976,075
Other00 0011 74
Total3,2144,189 110,90081,809 10,9419,543 91,02661,731

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 (formerly 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.

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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