In Poland, there are more and more cars every year, although the problem of the so-called. “dead souls” is still in effect. The Samara Institute of the Automotive Market checked how many cars we have and what their age is.
Based on the CEPiK database, car fleet at the end of 2022, IBRM Samar checked how many cars are on Polish roads and what is their average age.
According to the latest available data, as of December 31, 2022, 26.675 million cars were registered in the CEPiK (Central Registration of Vehicles and Drivers) databases, which is 577 thousand (+2.2%) more than a year earlier. However, we are talking about 27 thousand. fewer vehicles than IBRM Samar regularly updates: 2021 fleet plus first new and used vehicle registrations minus deregistrations. Why such difference? According to the institute, this is unknown.
How many cars don’t exist?
As a starting point, IBRM Samar took data from the Park 2022 database - 26.675 million vehicles. The problem is the so-called “dead souls”, i.e. cars identified in the CEPiK as archival: they are in the databases, but are practically absent. These are unregistered, not canceled vehicles, in case of which more than 10 years have passed since the date of the first registration in Poland, but no update message has been received from the registration authorities, the Insurance Guarantee Fund or technical inspection stations for 6 or more years. This definition is used by the CEPiK.
Over the past 12 months, 257,000 such “dead souls” have arrived, and their total number has exceeded 7 million (more precisely, 7.006 million). After the exclusion of archival vehicles from the CEPiK databases, the number of registered cars at the end of 2022 is reduced to 19.669 million units.
The era of cars without “dead souls”
The average age of “dead souls” is nearly 36 years old, so removing them significantly reduces the average age of cars in the fleet, from 21.15 to 15.88 years. At the moment, it is worth noting that this average age is constantly growing: over the past 12 months - by 0.32 years. In 2022, demand for new cars was limited by low supply. Imports were also lower, but in the case of passenger cars, their average age reached a record high of over 13.2 years. For vehicles with gasoline engines, it has exceeded 14 years.
As IBRM Samar adds, in the context of the car fleet in Poland, it is also worth fighting the myth that Poland is “catching up with Luxembourg” or “is the second Switzerland” in terms of the number of cars per 1,000 inhabitants. Even if we theoretically have 700 of them, in reality, after the elimination of the “dead souls”, there are 517 of them.
Source: Wprost
I am Jason Root. I work in the news website industry and mostly cover the automobile industry. I have also written for Daily News Hack. My work revolves around new car models, prices, and features. In addition, I often write about used cars and tips for buying them. My articles are meant to be helpful for those who are in the market for a new or used car.
