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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

October 2015

New vehiclesOctober January - October
 20142015Change 20142015Change
New private cars3,0823,94386127.9% 89,976118,38928,41331.6%
New goods vehicles1,4671,62916211.0% 14,86121,0776,21641.8%
Total new vehicles5,0626,1601,09821.7% 113,271148,55735,28631.2%

Increase of 27.9% in new private cars licensed in October

Figure 1 Vehicles licensed for the first time October 2015
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In October 2015, 3,943 new private cars were licensed for the first time, an increase of 27.9% compared with October 2014. A total of 4,035 used (imported) private cars were licensed, representing a fall of 6.8% on the same month last year.

In the first ten months of 2015, 118,389 new private cars were licensed, a rise of 31.6% compared with the same period last year. The number of used (imported) private cars licensed fell by 11.7% compared with the same period in 2014.

The licensing figures also show that:

  • Volkswagen (473) was the most popular make of new private cars licensed in October, followed by Ford (396), BMW (283), Opel (280) and Skoda (278). Together these five makes represent 43.4% of all new private cars licensed. See table 3.
  • In the first ten months of 2015, seven out of every ten (71.0%) new private cars licensed were diesel fuelled, while 95.4% 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 October 2015 was 6,160 compared with 5,062 during the same month in 2014, an increase of 21.7%. See table 1.
  • There was a 11.0% increase in the number of new goods vehicles licensed in October 2015, bringing the total to 1,629. 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, October 2014
Volkswagen 12.6
Ford 8
BMW 7.1
Opel 7
Skoda 6.8
Other58.4
Most popular makes of new cars, October 2015
Volkswagen 12
Ford 10
BMW 7.2
Opel 7.1
Skoda 7.1
Other56.6
Table 1: Number of vehicles licensed for the first time classified by taxation class
Taxation ClassOctober January -October
201320142015 201320142015
New vehicles
New private cars 2,8323,0823,943 69,40289,976118,389
New goods vehicles 9731,4671,629 10,01414,86121,077
New tractors 683129123 4,1161,9841,756
New motorcycles 7868105 8068891,173
New exempt vehicles 239248272 3,7634,5244,934
New other 1696888 1,1751,0371,228
Total new vehicles 4,9745,0626,160 89,276113,271148,557
       
Used (imported) vehicles       
Used private cars 4,6584,3284,035 42,09545,46240,147
Used goods vehicles 747862710 6,0377,5267,096
Used tractors 1,439154139 5,8602,0521,384
Used motorcycles 143104141 1,5221,4701,423
Used other vehicles 742344327 4,7313,7323,214
Total used vehicles 7,7295,7925,352 60,24560,24253,264
    
Total all vehicles 12,70310,85411,512 149,521173,513201,821
Open in Excel: Vehicles licensed for the first time October 2015 Table 1 (XLS 32KB)
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Table 2A: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, October 2015
BandFuel TypeTotal
PetrolDieselPetrol & electricPetrol & ethanolElectricOther
        
A 6192,21241011122,895
B 3085096000823
C 131170000130
D 623000029
E 228000030
F 126000027
G 1000001
Not available10800008
        
Total9502,92347011123,943
        
1 Emission bands unavailable at time of licensing
Open in Excel: Vehicles licensed for the first time October 2015 Table 2A (XLS 32KB)
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Table 2B: Number of new private cars licensed for the first time by CO2 emission band and fuel type, January-October 2015
BandFuel TypeTotal
PetrolDieselPetrol & electricPetrol & ethanolElectricOther
        
A 21,26561,8541,134046417384,890
B 10,29017,503188002428,005
C 5062,54190003,056
D 1491,07310001,223
E 336320000665
F 474191000467
G 2228000050
Not available1330000033
        
Total32,31584,0801,3330464197118,389
1 Emission bands unavailable at time of licensing
Open in Excel: Vehicles licensed for the first time October 2015 Table 2B (XLS 32KB)
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Table 3: Number of new and used (imported) private cars licensed for the first time by make, October 2015
MakeOctober January - October
NewUsed (imported)Total NewUsed (imported)Total
        
Audi 2093055144,9263,1838,109
BMW 2832335164,4132,3636,776
Chevrolet 02203535
Citroen 441782221,8431,6743,517
Dacia22332263,465233,488
Fiat 392968627239866
Ford 39655795311,6055,77817,383
Honda 581432011,3781,1952,573
Hyundai 19216635810,6391,42312,062
Kia 156762325,2237565,979
Lexus 121426486138624
Mazda 85841692,1307442,874
Mercedes-Benz 801332132,4811,2513,732
Mitsubishi 4414588562121,068
Nissan 20716537210,6981,79712,495
Opel 28012817,075227,097
Peugeot 1162293453,3962,1985,594
Renault 1901253155,9071,1587,065
Seat 5038882,4904122,902
Skoda 278873657,2649238,187
Subaru 1311417533208
Suzuki 4831798342731,107
Toyota 26133659712,2393,13715,376
Vauxhall 043143114,2674,268
Volkswagen 47348595814,7165,15819,874
Volvo 75511261,4655602,025
Other 1311182492,0571,1953,252
       
Total 3,9434,0357,978 118,38940,147158,536
        
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 October 2015 Table 3 (XLS 34KB)
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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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