In the first quarter of 2022, the stock of licensed motor vehicles increased by 1,650 over the previous quarter, the NSO said Wednesday.

At the end of March 2022, the stock of licensed motor vehicles stood at 414,669. Out of this total, 75.6 per cent were passenger cars, 13.8 per cent were commercial motor vehicles, 9.4 per cent were motorcycles/quadricycles/EKick Scooters and All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs), while buses and minibuses amounted to less than one per cent.

During the quarter under review, the stock of licensed motor vehicles increased at a net average rate of 18 motor vehicles per day.

Newly licensed motor vehicles put on the road during the period under review amounted to 5,008. The majority of the newly licensed motor vehicles, 3,061 or 61.1 per cent of the total, were passenger cars, followed by motorcycles/Ebicycles/PA-Bicycles with 1,312 or 26.2 per cent.

Newly licensed ‘new’ motor vehicles amounted to 3,060 or 61.1 per cent of the total, whereas newly licensed ‘used’ motor vehicles totalled 1,948 or 38.9 per cent.

An average of 56 motor vehicles per day was newly licensed during the quarter under review, the NSO said.

During the first quarter of 2022, 7,084 motor vehicles were taken off the road due to a restriction. Out of these, 33.6 per cent were scrapped, 33.2 per cent were garaged, while 31.3 per cent were put up for resale. Motor vehicles that had their restriction ending during the quarter under review totalled 4,186. The majority were recorded as being resold (52.4 per cent) or garaged (46.6 per cent).

As at the end of March 2022, 245,391 motor vehicles or 59.2 per cent of the total had petrol-powered engines. Diesel-powered motor vehicles reached 155,761 or 37.6 per cent of the total. Electric and plug-in hybrid motor vehicles accounted for 1.7 per cent of the entire stock, with a total of 7,122 motor vehicles.

When compared to the previous quarter, increases of 22.5 per cent, 15.6 per cent and 12.5 per cent were registered in the plug-in hybrid (petrol-electric), mild hybrid (diesel-electric) and plug-in hybrid (diesel-electric) motor vehicles respectively.