Almost 268,000 vehicles on the road

The number of licensed motor vehicles of all types at the end of September stood at 267,925, the National Statistics Office said.

Of these, 200,157, or 74.7 per cent, were private vehicles while commercial vehicles totalled 44,458, or 16.6 per cent.

The stock of self-drive cars increased by 2.7 per cent over the previous quarter and by only 50 vehicles when compared to the same period last year.

New licences issued during the third quarter of 2003 amounted to 3,670.

The NSO said that private vehicles accounted for 2,712 new licences, or 73.9 per cent of the total.

In the quarter under review, private vehicles falling within Class 1 (1300cc) registered the highest increase. This class accounted for 1,092 new licences in July-September 2003 while vehicles in class 3 (1450-1500 cc) accounted for 593.

Compared to the same period last year, the total number of newly licensed motor vehicles registered an increase of 264 or 7.8 per cent.