Cyprus motor vehicle regs fall in January

Motor vehicle registrations in Cyprus have yet to recover from the rush to buy vehicles after the steep cut in excise duties for a range of cars in late 2003.

Data for January 2006 show that total registrations fell by 0.3% to 4,332, compared with 4,346 in January 2005.

Registrations of private saloon cars, which enjoyed the largest cut in excise duties just over two years ago, fell by 7.5% to 3,433 units.

For the whole of 2005, total registrations dropped by 12.5% to 36,805, having risen by 50.4% in 2004.

Registrations of new cars fell by 2.9% in 2005, having risen by 133.7% in 2004, while registrations of used cars fell by 19.8%, having risen by 18.2% in 2004.