Vehicle sales dropped in 2019 after five consecutive years

Total vehicle registrations in 2019 dropped by 5.2%, marking the first reduction since 2013, owing to the decline in saloon car sales, according to data released on Friday by the Cyprus Statistical Service.
 
According to Cystat, total vehicle registrations for the whole of 2019 amounted to 46,896 compared with 49,450 the year before.
 
Saloon car sales, which account for 80.6% of vehicle registrations, dropped by 7.1% in 2019 to 37,802 units compared with 40,683 in 2018.
 
From the total of saloon cars sold in 2018, 12,601 or 33.3% were new cars and 25,201 or 66.7% were used, compared with 32.3% and 67.7% respectively in 2018.
 
Cargo cars sales in 2019 rose by 9.7% amounting to 5,786 in comparison with 5,275 in 2018. Light track sales also rose by 10.3% reaching 4,992.
 
Scooter (with engines up to 50 cubic centimetres) and motorcycle sales dropped by 8.8% and 4.3% to 280 and 2,433, compared with 307 and 2,542 respectively, Cystat added.
 
The majority of the vehicles sold in 2019 or 57.3% came from EU member-states while 26.8% came from Japan.