Monday, April 8, 2013

8/4/2013: New Vehicles Registrations: Q1 2013

Q1 data for vehicles licensing for Ireland is out today. CSO provides good insight and data on these here.

Per CSO data:

  • Q1 2013 saw 49,591 new and old vehicles licensed for the first time which represents a decline of 9.1% y/y and marks the lowest Q1 number of registrations since 1995. Compared to peak Q1 registrations, Q1 2013 numbers come in at -60.8%.
  • In Q1 2013 there were 36,286 new vehicles licensed in the state, down 14.3% y/y and down 65.5% on peak. Number of new vehicles registrations in Q1 2013 was the lowest since 1995.
  • In Q1 2013 there were 31,002 new private cars licensed in Ireland, down 14.1% y/y and 62.1% below the peak. Number of new private cars licensed for the first time in the state is now running at the lowest level since 1995.
Chart below summarises Q1 data for 1965-present:



In other words, all three series are now running below their historical (1965-2013) average (more specifically -3.51% for all vehicles licensed for the first time, -13.0% for new vehicles and -7.0% for new private cars).

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

The drop in sales in the q1 2013 is exactly what the motor industry signed up for when they looked for the split year registrations

TrueEconomics said...

I am glad that everything is going according to plan, then, just as with the rest of the economy.

edward said...

Surely a time to look at the ultra competitive V.R.T then? Then again, that would harm a few used car salesmen in a country which likes to protect the minority and screw the masses.
When a car in Spain is €9,000 and the same model here is €13,000, surely it is better for the Government to have 23% VAT of €9,000 than 100% of nothing when sales are down? Or am I living in Utopia?

TrueEconomics said...

Yes, yes, but Ireland is not Spain. We are so much richer and according to the Irish Times, yummy-mummies of Blackrock are still going gaga for supped-up Range Rovers...

edward said...

Very observant and witty as always Doc.

Silly me, I'd forgotten that Ireland is not Spain, like Portugal was not Greece, or are we all like Cyprus minus the haircut?

Apart from the Yummie-Mummies and their silly accents, the car sales figures don't look good.
Then again, when July's figures are 20% higher y/y due to the 132 plate, this government will jump on that to announce that the depression is finally over.