Number of licensed cars rises to 291,920

The stock of licensed motor vehicles rose by 2,470 in the second quarter of 2008 to reach 291,920, the NSO said today. The figures show that while licensing increased, the number of licences issued to new cars dipped marginally.

The NSO said that just over three quarters of vehicles were private cars while commercial vehicles accounted for 16.3 percent.

New licences issued during the second quarter of 2008 amounted to 3,422 (compared to 3,088 in the same period last year). Private vehicles accounted for 2,170 new licences, or 63.4 per cent of the total. The majority of new licences (1,288) were issued to private vehicles falling of up to 1300cc while vehicles of between 1301-1449cc accounted for 282.

Newly-licensed 'new' motor vehicles amounted to 2,021, (2,103 last year), while newly-licensed 'used' motor vehicles amounted to 1,401.

In the second quarter of 2008, 10 vehicles were exported while 668 were scrapped.