The number of licensed motor vehicles increased by 2,470 during April and June 2008, amounting to a total of 291,920 licensed vehicles – 75.9 per cent of these were private vehicles, according the latest statistics issued by the National Statistics Office.

The NSO stated that, out of the total of 291,920 vehicles, 75.9 per cent were private vehicles and 16.3 per cent were commercial vehicles accounted for 16.3 per cent.

A total of 3,422 new licences were issued during the second quarter of 2008 – of these 2,710 were for private vehicles, amounting to 63.4 per cent of total.

The majority of new licences were issued to private vehicles falling within Class 1 (

First-time licences for new motor vehicles amounted to 2,021, or 59.1 per cent of the total, while newly-licensed “used” motor vehicles amounted to 1,401.

Between April and June 2008, 10 vehicles were exported, a decrease of one over the first quarter.

There were a total of 668 scrapped vehicles, of which 62.7 per cent were Class 1 private cars (1300 cc). In the quarter under review, 1,366 vehicles were garaged, amounting to to nearly 67 per cent of total vehicles that are no longer on the road.