The stock of licensed motor vehicles increased by 1,650 in the first three months of the year - a net average rate of 18 per day - when compared to the previous quarter, the National Statistics Office said.
That represents a significant slowdown in the rate at which new vehicles are being added to local roads: in the same period last year, the rate stood at 21 additional cars a day
That slower rate could well be due to global delays in the car sector: importers warned late last year that back orders of new vehicles were being delayed due to shortages in the microchip sector.
As of the end of March, there were 414,669 motor vehicles in the Maltese islands, 75.6% of which were passenger cars, 13.8% commercial motor vehicles, 9.4% motorcycles/quadricycles/E-Kick Scooters and All-Terrain Vehicles (ATVs).
Buses and minibuses amounted to less than 1%.
Newly licensed motor vehicles
A total 5,008 newly licensed motor vehicles were put on the road during the period. These included 3,061 (61.1%) passenger cars and 1,312 (26.2%) motorcycles/E-bicycles/ PA-bicycles.
There were 3,060 newly licensed ‘new’ motor vehicles and 1,948 newly licensed ‘used’ motor vehicles. An average of 56 motor vehicles per day were newly licensed.
A total of 7,084 vehicles were taken off local roads in that quarter due to export, being garaged, restricted by the police or de-licenced following resale. But that reduction was counterbalanced by the addition of 4,186 further vehicles which had such restrictions removed during the quarter.
Motor vehicles under restriction
The NSO also said that, in the same period, 7,084 motor vehicles were taken off the road due to a restriction. Of these, 33.6% were scrapped, 33.2% were garaged, and 31.3% were put up for resale.
Another 4,186 motor vehicles that had been under restrictions had the restriction ended in the period. The majority of these were resold (52.4 or garaged (46.6%).
Motor energy type
By the end of March, 245,391 motor vehicles (59.2%) had petrol-powered engines. Diesel-powered motor vehicles reached 155,761 (37.6%). Electric and plug-in hybrid motor vehicles accounted for 1.7% of the entire stock, with a total of 7,122 motor vehicles.
Compared to the previous quarter, increases of 22.5%, 15.6% and 12.5% were registered in the plug-in hybrid (petrol-electric), mild hybrid (diesel-electric) and plug-in hybrid (also diesel-electric) motor vehicles respectively.