Only a third of newly licensed vehicles are 'new'
Only a third of the newly licensed vehicles last year were new cars, the National Statistics Office said.
In a statement, the NSO said that the stock of licensed motor vehicles at the end of last year stood at 311,947. 76.9 per cent were private vehicles and 15.5 per cent commercial.
New licences issued during the period under review amounted to 4,416.
Private vehicles accounted for 3,556 new licences, or 80.5 per cent of the total. The majority of new licences (1,082) were issued to private vehicles under 1300cc, followed by vehicles between 1801-2000cc (745).
Newly-licensed 'new' motor vehicles amounted to 1,471, or 33.3 per cent of the total, while newly licensed 'used' motor vehicles totalled 2,945.
In the fourth quarter last year, 35 vehicles were exported and 2,606 were garaged. Private vehicles accounted for 49 per cent of the total vehicles garaged.
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Joseph Borg
Feb 2nd, 10:03
This statistic MAKES NO SENSE! It cannot be right! 1471 new cars is utter non-sense & I KNOW what I'm saying!!!!
Adam West
Feb 1st, 21:39
There was a saying that when Brit cars are dead and gone they end up in Malta with a re-furb. How true lol
Reinhard Azzopardi
Feb 2nd, 10:15
Dead and gone? How do you classify dead and gone? 3 years old with, say, 50,000 miles. that's far from dead and gone!
Alfred Farrugia
Feb 1st, 18:21
Do we have a reliable vehicle emissions test in Malta? If Malta is really interested in protecting the environment, this is all that is needed. A 20-year old car with a catalytic converter – and these exist – can be as clean as a new car. Charging exorbitant registration fees on used imported cars is simply a money making revenue measure that has nothing to do with the environment.
Can NSO kindly provide us with the amount of revenue pocketed by the authorities through registration fees and other car taxes?
Perhaps Hon. Dr. Franco Debono could conduct some research on car taxation in Malta in comparison to the EU, as well. I have no doubt that he will find a number of constituents supporting his action on their behalf on this issue. Maltese car owners and drivers are not obtaining the benefits of EU membership when it comes to car taxation.
JJ Debono
Feb 1st, 22:51
Yes true i agree but try and tell this to the wise guys, who are actually interested in making money out of the ordinary Joe in the street, all this nonsence about dirty old cars is a load of shite. i know that-you know that and for sure the wise guys best known as the Maltese jokers know it too well.
Joseph Borg
Feb 1st, 16:47
Kompli ISRAQ lil poplu bir REGISTRATION TAX ja Gvern gustus!
Josef Borg
Feb 1st, 16:21
Mhux ha niskanta li hekk ghax karozza li jien stess nizzilt mill-UK 2nd hand, 3 snin barra swietni 12,000 euros, fuq l-istazzjonijiet taljani irreklamatha 19,990 euros gdida, u allajbierek minghand l-agent Malta talabni 29,800 euros u b'package ta extras inqas.
John Scerri
Feb 1st, 14:37
How many second hand car importers and second hand car dealers issue a fiscal tax receipt with every payment they receive from clients ...or is it ...minn id ghal ohra .
Do the VAT dept. make random inspections , meaning without pradvice to the so called 'dealers ...dealers my foot ...they fix , weld, and respray vehicles to make them seem like a 90 year old lady with make up and stick labels like one owner, mint condition, low milage haha....
Is there an audit trail to know which cars and logbooks were scrapped against which purchase and which in actual fact were destroyed and not put on the market again and again?
Buying a car from UK has it's history ....some UK importers do not issue a service history with the car ....dont buy cars from these .
mike Dobson
Feb 1st, 14:21
Ha Ha haaaa..this just clearly proves that the smart alec who intend to increase or double the registration tax for 2nd hand imported cars is proven to be 100% wrong or as we say back home a load of Maltese bollocks, the uk tried the same game but fail flat faced on the ground, now its Malta's turn......WHEN WILL THESE PEOPLE EVER LEARN, not to be gluten for punishment. Nobody or hardly anyone is buying a brand new motor, simply there is no money about charlie boy, or if there is, it all belongs to the bank with interest and your bank charges in Malta is nothing to write home about. Okey-Dokey-Lokey Safe driving with a valid driving licence & insurance ofcourse
JJ Debono
Feb 1st, 19:54
OK fair enough but our Anglo Saxon is being a bit sarcastic don't U think? Sarcasm gets U nowhere, Now read my lips (if U can Johnny Boy - and i say this only once) if U do not like our way of life in Malta or what you see & is not up to your highness standards, ok Luqa is not far, its within east reach to where ever you're dosing down
charles caruana
Feb 1st, 14:16
Who is responsible for this dumping of second hand cars onto our roads, threatening our health and environment? Is it the exorbitant tariffs imposed by government on the importation of new cars, or the exorbitant profit margins of local car importers? Or both? Why should a new car cost far less all over Europe (watch those painful vehicle adverts on Italian TV stations to see what I mean) than in Malta, when they have higher living standards and wages? What do they expect the local worker with a minimum of average wage to do except opt for second hand and potentially more polluting cars? Does he really have a choice, in this tax free haven?
John Micallef
Feb 1st, 13:57
Private vehicles accounted for 49 per cent of the total vehicles garaged.
The rest were the old route buses!!!
David Galea
Feb 1st, 13:33
More new cars would be purchased if the local agents would sell the cars that they represent according to the price that the manufacturers intended them to be.
Paul Meilak
Feb 1st, 13:24
It is clear that a lot of Maltese people had the wish of owning a BMW ! Now their dream came true..but unfortunately their car is ..the old model and 2nd hand.
Ivan Visanich
Feb 1st, 14:27
It's not a matter of owning a BMW or Merc or Jag or a big VW passat but a question of whether you can afford to mantain properly the big UK imported with moonshot mileage bleedn' thing ... With all due respect most of these owners won't even have enough money to buy their daily bread or pay the electricity bill but yet we import,import and import loans one against the other just to impress the neighbours ... just because it's cheap ...
j brincat
Feb 1st, 13:23
Who used to say that we are a 'Pajjiz tas-second hand'
Proves that 25 years under their rule we still are, and how!
(jb)
godwin difesa
Feb 1st, 14:24
There is a big difference from a second hand BMW or Mercedes of 3 or 4 years ago than a Skoda or Lada that normal citizen could effort to buy in the 80 s and by the way not all the teenagers after they become 18years most of them still studying could have a second hand BMW that was only in there dream same like you are dreaming for an early election like this it was impossible.
R Bartolo
Feb 1st, 13:10
Excellent news, but could be better.
This means that for the same money, Maltese buyers of used vehicles are buying a better, more modern car than they could have bought were they to limit their search to used vehicles previously registered in Malta.
Aside from that, what exactly is the relationship between the purchase of a used vehicle and that of a new one?
The figures of used car sales will always be several times greater than those of new cars, this is perfectly logical. A car generally has a number of owners before it's end of life, hence it is sold more often "used" than "new" (once). If one were to assume that on average a car would have 5 owners before being scrapped then the ratio of used to new car sales would be 4:1
If registration tax were lowered or scrapped completely, for the same money a used car buyer could yet again buy a far newer vehicle, thus reducing the average age of vehicles on the road. High registration tax = older cars on the road.
B Ellul
Feb 1st, 13:06
pajiz tas second hand!
R Bartolo
Feb 1st, 15:11
Yes, all cars on the road, in every country, are 'second hand'. There are no "new" cars on any road anywhere. Including yours, of course. The only thing that matters is the average age of the cars on the road.
F. Pisani
Feb 1st, 12:52
A new car in Malta costs twice as much as the same car in the UK. that is why i bought my car from UK and if things stay like that I will do it again, and again, and again, and again......................................
Gordon Grech
Feb 1st, 12:49
why there are different prices from eu countries? Easy answer! We are part of EU fejn jaqblilna man!
Billy Lee
Feb 1st, 11:59
The ministers are the third! They can afford it!
Godfrey Sultana
Feb 1st, 11:46
Why is it that the price, extras and paying terms of a new car in Malta is so different than the pubblicity we see on TV of our neighbour countries, also european members.
William Calleja
Feb 1st, 12:04
Because the maltese public is too busy pointing fingers at each other and fighting over political BS than actually holding policy and lawmakers accountable for the injustices we suffer daily. Now inevitably someone's going to post that colour x or y did it and once against discourse over unfairness will devolve in yet another mindless fight between the partisans. And by fight I mean completely asinine, pointless, childish and self immolating shouting contest.
Stephen Brincat
Feb 1st, 12:33
easy....as our local car agents are well trained to make a good profit margins....even on car parts. Take a quick look and see there newly refurbished showrooms.
Ivan Visanich
Feb 1st, 14:03
@ Stephen Brincat ... Nothing is as easy as you might think it be ... These so called second hand Japan and UK dealers have a lot of profit margin than new car dealers.Parts wise if you compare like with like on the internet i.e. genuine parts with genuine parts the prices are roughly the same,you can't compare the parts prices of an English car in the UK or of an Italian car in Italy.You have to consider the extra VAT and transport charges we pay here ... When it comes to refurbishment of the showrooms that is as per manufacturers instructions.I know what I am saying,I work with a main car dealer , recently the mother company changed the logo and image and wants its dealers worldwide to do the change.For them it doesn't matter that we sell just 150 cars annually against the thousands other countries do,we still have to do it,we have to invest in tools,training,keep the necessary parts etc,etc .. And we do this all at our cost.If cars are still expensive here it's all the governments and the shabby TM fault.Taxes are still expensive here ... The cost price for the vehicle and the margin is the same worldwide ... The tax isn't ... Rather than backing new car dealers making new cars with 0 mileage and Euro 5 more affordable to anyone,we have to bear in mind the many number of persons employed by new car dealers compared to a one man showroom packed with luxury imports ( which then usually refer you to the dealer when the new expensive high mileage cheap car he just sold you would turn faulty ) all the government's main concern is the money he is collecting from registration taxes be it from new or second hand ... No wonder Malta is littered with imports ...