The number of motor vehicles in Malta rose by 1,767 in the fourth quarter of 2007 as the number of newly-registered vehicles continued to outstrip the number of vehicles taken off the roads, according to recent media reports on the Internet.
New vehicle licenses actually rose by 3,138 between October and December last year.

59 percent vehicles were new and the rest were imported second hand vehicles.
On annual basis, the number of new vehicle licenses in Malta reached 12,589 in 2007, a drop of 1.8 percent from 2006.

There was a drop of 1.3 percent in new vehicles and 2.5 percent in imported used vehicles.

Second hand car buyers in Malta recently filed a judicial protest in the Civil Court claiming that the imposition of vehicle registration tax and VAT on imported second-hand cars was in violation of EU law.

The four men said the money requested of them by the authorities were in violation of the EU Treaty.

In fact, the European Commission had already warned the government of Malta that the imposition of registration tax and VAT on the importation of second-hand vehicles was illegal and abusive.

Dubai’s imports of vehicles and automobile parts exceed Dh17 billion per year, according to data complied by the Dubai chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI).

Trade in the automotive sector amounted to Dh24.4 billion in 2005 and imports accounted for 70.6 per cent of the total.

The share of re-exports was 29.1%, according to the DCCI survey.

Vehicles, both passenger and commercial, accounted for 74.6% of the total automotive trade, while spare parts and accessories had 22.3% share.

Imports grew 30% annually between 2001 and 2005, while the re-export business increased 60% during 5 years.

Qatar, Libya, Iran, Afghanistan and Iraq were top destinations for vehicles arriving in the emirate for re-export,while Iran,