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The average age of passengers cars in Slovenia increased from 6.8 years in 1992 to 8.7 years in 2012. During this period, the average age of passenger cars in European countries declined. This means that new technologies are introduced gradually and that the vehicle fleet is mostly less environmentally-friendly.


The indicator shows the average age of registered passenger cars for the period 1992–2007 in Slovenia and for the period 1995–2006 in the group of selected European countries. The environmental and safety standards of vehicles are constantly improving; therefore, the new vehicles are on average less polluting, generate less noise, consume less fuel and better protect the users against accidents. The indicator of average age of passenger cars indirectly expresses their environmental efficiency.


Charts

Figure PR12-1: Average age of passenger cars in Slovenia in the period 1992-2012
Sources:

Ministry of the Interior, Records of vehicle registered in Slovenia - database, 2006; Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, SI-STAT Data Portal, 2013

*Note to Figure PR12-1: There is a break in the series of data, see methodology section for details

Show data
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Slovenia age of vehicle fleet (years) 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 7
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Slovenia age of vehicle fleet (years) 7 7 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8
2012
Slovenia age of vehicle fleet (years) 9
Figure PR12-2: The share of passenger cars by age in Slovenia in the period 1992-2012
Sources:

Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, Road vehicles at the end of the year (31.12.) by type of vehicle and age, 2013

*Note to Figure PR12-2: There is a break in the series of data, see methodology section for details

Show data
1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001
Less than 3 years število 152952 144131 140442 171364 168315 182396 191248 205704 204877 184173
From 3 to 5 years število 176621 190104 192098 166630 163136 156201 181414 184646 200834 216509
Form 9 to 11 years število 95518 128399 155804 175234 188655 191096 165681 160722 154481 179521
Form 6 to 8 years število 59262 63677 67297 87251 115284 137527 154695 166858 170026 151292
12 years and over število 121892 124033 112666 110885 107667 109578 118633 128179 135878 149992
Less than 3 years % 25 22 21 24 23 23 24 24 24 21
From 3 to 5 years % 29 29 29 23 22 20 22 22 23 25
Form 6 to 8 years % 16 20 23 25 25 25 20 19 18 20
Form 9 to 11 years % 10 10 10 12 16 18 19 20 20 17
12 years and over % 20 19 17 16 14 14 15 15 16 17
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Less than 3 years število 160455 154397 161542 166807 167425 176029 183653 181405 170197 152685
From 3 to 5 years število 228502 229298 213805 194320 192092 196975 205269 204485 206881 210543
Form 9 to 11 years število 183438 197995 214360 230655 234473 219864 197342 196198 202619 210808
Form 6 to 8 years število 150356 143643 166433 172335 188952 206120 221254 222729 204125 182310
12 years and over število 171770 185096 177801 196096 197319 215134 237665 254041 277824 310149
Less than 3 years % 18 17 17 17 17 17 18 17 16 14
From 3 to 5 years % 26 25 23 20 20 19 20 19 19 20
Form 6 to 8 years % 21 22 23 24 24 22 19 19 19 20
Form 9 to 11 years % 17 16 18 18 19 20 21 21 19 17
12 years and over % 19 20 19 20 20 21 23 24 26 29
2012
Less than 3 years število 140761
From 3 to 5 years število 203027
Form 9 to 11 years število 208437
Form 6 to 8 years število 182339
12 years and over število 331464
Less than 3 years % 13
From 3 to 5 years % 19
Form 6 to 8 years % 20
Form 9 to 11 years % 17
12 years and over % 31
Figure PR12-3: The share of passenger cars by age in EU-27 in 2011
Sources:

EUROSTAT, Passenger cars (by age), 2011

Show data
Lithuania Latvia Poland Hungary Estonia Czech Republic Cyprus Finland Slovenia Netherlands
Less than 2 years število 28 22 833 172 32 310 41 271 117 874
From 2 to 5 years število 67 77 1098 566 79 468 90 457 198 1430
Form 5 to 10 years število 168 104 3048 948 104 1027 132 701 337 2447
10 years and over število 1432 701 11516 1328 331 2630 198 1238 407 2871
Total število 1695 904 16495 3014 546 4435 461 2667 1059 7622
Less than 2 years % 2 2 5 6 6 7 9 10 11 11
From 2 to 5 years % 4 9 7 19 15 11 20 17 19 19
Form 5 to 10 years % 10 12 18 31 19 23 29 26 32 32
10 years and over % 84 77 70 44 61 59 43 46 38 38
Total % 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
Italy Luxembourg United Kingdom Germany Sweden Spain Romania Austria Belgium
Less than 2 years število 4434 46 4282 6425 667 3543 744 856 1264
From 2 to 5 years število 13949 122 6860 8681 782 4574 772 872 1198
Form 5 to 10 years število 9607 100 10408 12491 1345 6410 890 1321 1476
10 years and over število 8380 64 6697 14141 1507 7457 1829 1311 1254
Total število 36370 332 28247 41738 4301 21984 4235 4360 5192
Less than 2 years % 12 14 15 15 16 16 18 20 24
From 2 to 5 years % 38 37 24 21 18 21 18 20 23
Form 5 to 10 years % 26 30 37 30 31 29 21 30 28
10 years and over % 23 19 24 34 35 34 43 30 24
Total % 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

Goals

Slovenia or the EU has set no specific target for the average age of the vehicle fleet. The overall objective is to improve the fleet composition by replacing older, more polluting vehicles with newer, cleaner ones.


An older vehicle fleet generates more emissions than a younger one, but more rapid vehicle replacement has the disadvantage of increasing the amounts of energy and materials used for vehicle construction, dismantling and recycling. The European Environment Agency is warning that the information on the average age of a vehicle fleet alone is not sufficient in order to assess its overall environmental performance. Information on the lifetime of vehicles would be helpful to complete the picture (EEA, 2007).

The average age of passenger cars in the EU decreased from 7.82 years in 1995 to 7.65 years in 2006. In some new EU Member States the age of passengers cars has been decreasing primarily on account of an increased GDP, accelerated abandonment of old passenger cars and the policy of encouraging the replacement of older vehicles with new ones. In Slovenia, the average age of passenger cars has increased since 2001 by almost a year (in 2001 6.9 years, and in 2007 7.7 years). This means that new technologies are introduced gradually and that the vehicle fleet is mostly less environmentally-friendly.

Measures introduced by countries to renew the vehicle fleet include financial incentives for their renewal or the abandonment of old and used vehicles, management systems for used motor vehicles, import bans on some types or age of vehicles and mandatory periodic roadworthiness tests.

In EU countries, some systems of incentives for the renewal of the vehicle fleet have already been introduced; however, no common policy of such type has been set yet at the EU level. Incentives may include financial compensation for the abandonment of an old vehicle without the mandatory purchase of a new one, or financial compensation for the replacement of an old vehicle with a new one or such that is less polluting to the environment. There are some administrative measures without direct financial effects, but with an indirect influence regarding the decision on the replacement of an old vehicle. In Slovenia, such incentives have not been introduced yet at the state level; however, some manufacturers have included them in their sales campaigns. These measures influence the environment in two ways: positively by reducing the environmental pressure and human health risks due to the renewal of the existing vehicle fleet with newer, technologically more advanced and cleaner vehicles; and negatively by reducing the lifetime of vehicles, increasing the amounts of energy and materials used for the construction of new vehicles and the dismantling of older ones. An environmentally important part of vehicle fleet renewal is also the management system of end-of-life vehicles, which is mandatory for all EU Member States on the basis of the Directive, adopted on 18th September 2000 (no. 2000/53/EC). Its objective is to protect the environment by preventing pollution with end-of-life vehicles as well as the promotion and support of the collection, recycling and reuse of components of vehicles. The main requirements of this Directive are:
- establishment of the collection system for end-of-life vehicles across the country;
- by the end of 2006, at least 85 % of the weight of end-of-life vehicles should be recovered, and by 2015 95 % by reusing or recovering at least 80 % (by 2015 85 %) of the material;
- after 1st July 2003, the use of cadmium, mercury, lead and hexavalent chromium is prohibited in the manufacturing of vehicles;
- manufacturers or importers shall carry an essential part of the costs for the recovery of vehicles placed on the market after 1st July 2002, while after 1st January 2007 for all vehicles notwithstanding the time of their entry onto the market;
- a certificate of dismantling/destruction of a car must contain specific data and shall be mutually recognised by the Member States;
- Member States must report to the European Union on the dismantling process.

In the European Union, approximately 75 % of all vehicles are dismantled. The objective of the Directive is to increase this share to 85 % by 2006, and to 95 % by 2015 (MESP, 2006). Slovenia settled this area in 2003 with the Decree on the manner, subject of and conditions for performing public utility service of the management of end-of-life vehicles (OG RS, no. 18/2003).

The import of used vehicles that do not comply with the established safety and environment protection level is, in Slovenia, prevented by the legislation. Used vehicles that are registered anew must comply with the requirements of the Rules on devices and equipment of the vehicles in road traffic (OG RS, no.17/2000). A significant provision of these Rules, referring to the construction characteristics of vehicles, is that all vehicles, registered anew in the Republic of Slovenia, must contain equipment for the regulation of exhaust gas emissions meeting the lowest requirements:
- of the Directive 94/12/EC for passenger and light goods vehicles;
- of the Directive 91/542/EC for buses and trucks, and;
- of the Directive 97/24/EC for two- and three-wheeled vehicles.

Regular roadworthiness tests are of major importance for the reduction of the environmental impacts of vehicles and for the timely abandonment of inappropriate vehicles. Properly maintained vehicles can be of a higher age as long as their environmental performance does not differ too much from the newest technologies (EEA, 2007). Mandatory periodic roadworthiness tests in Slovenia have been carried out for a long time, improved by measurements of exhaust gas emissions since 1st December 2003. This measure shall directly reduce GHG emissions, since cars are not allowed to exceed the approved values of these emissions. Furthermore, the measure shall also influence the maintenance of vehicles, which additionally contributes to the reduction of emissions.


Methodology

Data for Slovenia:

Objectives summarised by: /
Source database or source:
- Register of registered vehicles – database
- SI-Stat data portal > Economy> Transport > Transport by modes > Some transport indicators, Slovenia, annually: Average age of passenger cars (4 August 2009)
Data administrator:
- Ministry of the Interior (MNZ)
- Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia (SORS)
Date of acquisition for this indicator: 4 August 2009
Methodology and frequency of data collection for the indicator: Until 2000, the indicator shows the data on the average age of passenger cars, as calculated on the basis of the Register of registered vehicles of the Ministry of the Interior. Since 2001, the Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia has been taking care of these calculations, publishing data annually on its web pages.
Data processing methodology: The average age of passenger cars is calculated from the month and year of their first registration until the end of the observed period.
Information concerning data quality:
- Advantages and disadvantages (at data level): Data break in 2001.
- Relevance, accuracy, robustness, uncertainty: The data is considered as fairly reliable and accurate.
Reliability of the indicator (archive data): The data refers to a longer time period.
Uncertainty of the indicator (scenarios/projections): Projections have not been prepared.
- Overall assessment (1 = no major comments, 3 = data to be considered with reservation): 1
Relevance: 1
Accuracy: 1
Completeness over time: 2 (data break in 2001)
Completeness over space: 1

Data for other countries:

Source database or source: TERM 2007 33 – Average age of the vehicle fleet, Indicator Fact Sheet
Data administrator: European Environment Agency (EEA)
Date of acquisition for this indicator: 4 August 2009
Methodology and frequency of data collection for the indicator: The data is annually modelled by the TREMOVE v2.50 model.
Data processing methodology: Modelling of data for the vehicle fleet.
Geographical coverage: EEA-21 includes 21 Member States of the European Environment Agency. The group is composed of the older EU-15 Member States (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and the United Kingdom) and the Czech Republic, Hungary, Norway, Poland, Slovenia and Switzerland.
Information concerning data quality:
- Advantages and disadvantages (at data level): Since the data is modelled rather than measured, the data must be seen and treated as estimates.
- Relevance, accuracy, robustness, uncertainty: The data cannot be considered as very reliable, since the modelling results are not validated yet.
Reliability of the indicator (archive data): The data refers to a longer time period.
Uncertainty of the indicator (scenarios/projections): Projections have not been prepared.
- Overall assessment (1 = no major comments, 3 = data to be considered with reservation): 2
Relevance: 2 (A better indicator would be vehicle-kilometres by age for different classes of vehicles)
Accuracy: 3 (the data is modelled rather than measured)
Completeness over time: 2 (the estimated data limits completness over time)
Completness over space: 2 (the estimated data limits completness over space)

Other sources and literature:
- EEA, 2007. TERM 2007 33 – Average age of the vehicle fleet. Indicator fact sheet. European Environment Agency.
- MESP, 2006. End-of-life vehicles. Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning. (17 July 2006).
- Rules on devices and equipment of the vehicles in road traffic. OG RS, no. 17/2000.
- Decree on the manner, subject of and conditions for performing public utility service of the management of end-of-life vehicles. OG RS, no. 18/2003.


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