Our Polish colleagues, analysts at the IBRM Samar Institute for Automotive Research in Warsaw, have studied information related to deregistration of vehicles in Poland. This time, we will look at deregistrations caused by alienation abroad. Together with theft, these are the three most common reasons recorded in the databases of the Central Register of Vehicles, which in total cover 99.4% of deregistrations of vehicles with a permissible maximum weight of up to 6 tons in Poland in 2024.
Due to alienation abroad, according to the Polish Central Register of Vehicles (CR TZ), 43,593 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles with a permissible maximum weight of up to 6 tons were deregistered last year, which means a decrease of 37.5% compared to the previous year. 2022 was a record year in this regard (over 100 thousand units), and the war in Ukraine had a certain impact on this. This was also confirmed by Ukrainian statistics: in 2022, 404.8 thousand used passenger cars were imported and registered in Ukraine from abroad. More than half of them were imported to Ukraine during the so-called zero customs clearance period.
As for the youngest cars (under 3 years old) purchased in Poland, alienation abroad is the most frequent reason for deregistration — it accounts for as much as 95.8% of cases. It is worth noting that data on deregistration appear in the Central Register of Vehicles with a delay, so their total number is even higher. In the analyzed period, individual deregistrations accounted for 19.8% of cases (8,651 cars). The vast majority, namely 80.2% (34,942 vehicles), is the result of information coming from other countries and manually entered by officials into the Polish vehicle registration system. This causes significant delays in updating data, which is acknowledged by the officials themselves.
Data from the databases show that cars that are several years old are most often exported abroad. The years of manufacture 2021, 2022, 2023 accounted for 49.4% of deregistrations. A similar share – 49.7% – is for cars deregistered that belonged to individuals.
Which cars left Poland most often?
The Top 5 brands are:
- Volkswagen (5,319 units)
- Ford (4,200 units)
- Renault (3,477 units)
- Skoda (3,304 units)
- Toyota (3,075 units).
In the Top 5 models group, commercial vehicles are leading:
- Iveco Daily (1,522 units)
- Renault Master (1,420 units)
- Mercedes Sprinter (1,376 units)
- Dacia Duster (1,103 units)
- Skoda Fabia (1,025 units)
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