Vehicle history and data expert CARTELL.IE reports that the age of the fleet in Ireland is falling while the size of the imported fleet reaches an all-time high.

Cartell.ie first tracked the average age of all native private vehicles in Ireland (excluding imports) for each month between 1999 and 2017. Between January 2017 and November 2017 the fleet age has fallen by 75 days. Next Cartell.ie tracked the age of imported vehicles into Ireland for each month between 1999 and 2017 and found that, between January 2017 to November 2017, the age of the imported Irish fleet has fallen by 112 days as buyers are bringing in newer vehicles.

The overall age of the imported fleet has fallen in 2017 but still stands higher than the native fleet. The age of the native fleet currently stands at 8.62 years while the age of the imported fleet stands at 9.02 years: which is the youngest recorded age for the imported fleet since July 2011. The overall age of the private fleet in Ireland (native and imported) stands at 8.7 years (3,181 days): representing a decline of 80 days since January 2017.
Cartell.ie next looked at the size of the imported fleet in Ireland for every month between 1999 and 2017 and found that the size of the imported fleet is now at an all-time high with 480,606 vehicles registered in Ireland after previous registration in a different country. The size of the private fleet (native and imported) stood at 2,289,922 on November 1 2017.

John Byrne, Legal and Public Relations Manager, Cartell.ie, says: “The size of the private fleet in Ireland continues to grow but the age is declining: imports are reducing the age of the Irish fleet as buyers move up the years and bring in a car from the UK. Possibly buyers are importing newer vehicles without retiring older vehicles in the fleet – this may explain why the age is declining while the size is still increasing. The imported fleet now stands at nearly half a million vehicles. Buyers should be careful when importing a vehicle as it may carry a hidden history from another country – such as where the vehicle was previously written-off or still has finance outstanding on it, or was clocked.”

Table 1: Size and Age of Private Fleet on 1st November between 2006 and 2017

Date                 Size of Fleet                    Age of Fleet Days           Age of Fleet (Years)

01/11/2006            2011091                        2268                                  6.2094
01/11/2007            2153439                        2339                                  6.4038
01/11/2008            2250435                        2439                                  6.6776
01/11/2009            2226866                        2619                                  7.1704
01/11/2010            2226909                        2765                                  7.5702
01/11/2011            2226300                        2893                                  7.9206
01/11/2012            2219383                        3037                                  8.3149
01/11/2013            2225541                        3175                                  8.6927
01/11/2014            2215663                        3209                                  8.7858
01/11/2015            2251916                        3255                                  8.9117
01/11/2016            2297251                        3239                                  8.8679
01/11/2017            2289922                        3181                                  8.7091

 

Table 2: Size and Age of Private Fleet on 1st day of each month in 2017

Date                Size of Fleet                     Age of Fleet Days           Age of Fleet (Years)

01/01/2017            2279618                       3261                                   8.9281
01/02/2017            2308334                       3218                                   8.8104
01/03/2017            2315400                       3203                                   8.7693
01/04/2017            2325607                       3187                                   8.7255
01/05/2017            2323592                       3188                                   8.7283
01/06/2017            2320602                       3192                                   8.7392
01/07/2017            2310904                       3201                                   8.7639
01/08/2017            2324284                       3174                                   8.6899
01/09/2017            2316492                       3175                                   8.6927
01/10/2017            2304485                       3176                                   8.6954
01/11/2017            2289922                       3181                                   8.7091