New Motor Vehicle Registrations

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    NAME OF ORGANISATION
    Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS)

    OVERVIEW
    The New Motor Vehicle Registrations Collection is a monthly count of the number of new vehicles registered for the first time for normal road use. Data are obtained from State and Territory motor vehicle registration authorities and reflect information contained in registration documents. Seasonally adjusted and trend estimated series are available for the main aggregates.

    PURPOSE
    The NMVR collection is a main economic indicator. It is used as a proxy for sales of new vehicles, a significant activity in the economy. The main aggregates (including the seasonally adjusted and trend estimated series) are used for analytical purposes by government policy areas and economic analysts. Data are also used by National Income and Expenditure Section as input to the National Accounts. More detailed data are used for industry and market analysis purposes.

    SCOPE
    Scope
    The statistics include:

    • all new vehicles legally registered for the first time;
    • vehicles with diplomatic or consular plates; and
    • State and Commonwealth owned vehicles.

    Excluded are:
    • vehicles belonging to the defence forces;
    • recreation vehicles (such as trail bikes or dune buggies) in those States where registration is required.

    Coverage
    Registration statistics are obtained from Australian State and Territory motor vehicle registration authorities and reflect the information recorded in registration documents.

    Registration authorities provide data for Queensland daily, New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia weekly and the other registries calendar monthly.

    DATA DETAIL

    Conceptual framework
    Not applicable.

    Main outputs
    Vehicle type (passenger vehicles, other vehicles)
    Make and model
    State of registration

    Classifications
    Vehicle body type or shape (coded as TRANS_body_type)
    Vehicle Marque and Model (coded as NMVR_make_model)

    Other concepts (summary)
    The vehicle category 'Other Vehicles' is an aggregate of light commercial vehicles, rigid trucks, articulated trucks, non freight-carrying trucks and buses. Data are also available for motorcycles.

    GEOGRAPHIC DETAIL
    Australia
    New South Wales
    Victoria
    Queensland
    South Australia
    Western Australia
    Tasmania
    Northern Territory
    ACT
    Part of State Metropolitan
    Part of State Extra-Metropolitan
    Australia Post Postcode

    Comments and/or Other Regions


    COLLECTION FREQUENCY
    Monthly

    Frequency comments


    COLLECTION HISTORY
    Unadjusted aggregates are available from 1960;
    Seasonally adjusted data from 1962; and
    Trend estimated data from 1980.

    Changes to the classification of vehicle type have occurred several times:

    • in 1983 small bus type vehicles changed from panel vans to buses in NSW;
    • in 1991 tractors were included with plant and equipment;
    • the Third Australian Design Rules (3ADR) defining vehicle types was implemented;
    • decoding of the Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) was introduced.

    As a result there were classification changes affecting passenger vehicles, light and heavy commercial vehicles and buses; data accuracy and quality was improved; and an accurate model description was available.

    DATA AVAILABILITY
    Yes

    Data availability comments
    Data by reference month are loaded to the ABSdb every month.
    Final data are available for use by Client Services Personnel on the ABSdb Output Database.
    Final data are available from AusStats in the form of Data CUBES.


    DATE OF LAST UPDATE FOR THIS DOCUMENT
    13/09/2005 08:51 AM