New car registrations on the increase in NI

The number of new cars registered in Northern Ireland has increased by about 3% compared to the same period last year.

These figures, which show an increase of 7% on all new cars imported from the Republic of Ireland, are included in the latest edition of the Northern Ireland Road and Rail Transport Statistics Quarterly Bulletin for the period 1st July to 30 September 2003.

Some of the key points for the quarter include:

• 18,495 new cars registered during the quarter
• Ford was the most popular make of new car accounting for 15% (2,812) of all new cars registered
• Bus passenger receipts increased by almost 8% from £1.17 million to £1.26 million on a weekly average basis compared to the same period in the previous year
• Compared to the same period in the previous year, the weekly average rail passenger receipts rose by 17% to £0.34 million from £0.29 million
• The number of motor cars taking the road vehicle-testing scheme (MOT) has increased from 100,626 in July-Sept 2002 to 105,107 in July-Sept 2003
• During the quarter, 11,513 car 'Learner' driving tests were conducted, an increase of 22% in comparison with the same period in 2002
• Compared to the corresponding quarter in 2002, the four quarter rolling average pass rate for 'L' driving tests for males rose from 49% to 52% but for females fell from 46% to 43%, both higher than the equivalent GB pass rates.

The Bulletin published by the Central Statistics and Research Branch of the Department for Regional Development, contains information on new vehicle and car registrations, light goods and heavy goods registrations, vehicle and driving tests, use of public transport and deliveries of petroleum for use in Northern Ireland.

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