1. Data source and responsibility
The Institute for Automotive Market Research (IMR) when forming monthly ratings and statistical reports published in the "news" section, such as "Top 10 makes and models", is guided by open data on vehicle registration actions, which are published by the Main Service Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MSC MIA) of Ukraine. Other sources are used for other series of publications.
Our analytics reflect only the facts of state registration or registration actions with vehicles. Accordingly, the data manager — the State Registration Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs — is responsible for the completeness, timeliness, and primary reliability of the published information.
- Additionally: to generate analytical reports that are not intended for public distribution, an expanded set of sources and an appropriate data correlation methodology are used, which ensures higher accuracy of information created on request.
2. Reasons for statistical discrepancies
There may be certain discrepancies between the statistical indicators of the IDA and the data published by other information resources, to a greater or lesser extent, due to the application of different data processing methods and the use of different information sources.
The main factors driving these discrepancies are as follows:
A. The difference between the fact of sale and registration
Some sources may base their statistics on dealer network reports on actual vehicle sales to the end consumer.
- Methodological difference: Our statistics record the fact of registration, not the fact of sale. Due to logistical and administrative procedures, a certain period of time may pass between the moment of sale (the car leaves the dealership) and the moment of its state registration.
- Consequence: This leads to a time lag in accounting, where a car included in sales statistics by other resources in the current month may be reflected in our ratings only after its actual registration in the next reporting period.
B. Different criteria for classifying vehicles as "New"
The IDA strictly adheres to the classification of vehicles based on the registration transaction codes of the State Central Register of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which clearly determine whether the registration was primary and whether the vehicle is new in the legal sense.
- Methodological difference: Some resources may consider a vehicle new based on the year of manufacture (for example, only the current year). Our approach relies solely on clearly defined transactions for new cars, regardless of their year of manufacture.
- Consequence: This may lead to artificial overstatement or understatement of figures in other sources, while our data only reflects volumes classified as new according to official registration procedures.
B. Failure to take into account departmental registrations
There is a category of vehicle registrations that are not always included in the open data arrays of the State Center of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which we use to form public ratings.
- Departmental registration: The IDA does not take into account the volume of registrations related to vehicles registered internally by law enforcement agencies, military formations, and other departmental bodies. Although such units were actually sold and registered, they may not be in the open data sets that form our basis.
- Consequence: This creates a statistical difference, as other sources may include these volumes in the total, while the IDA operates exclusively with indicators obtained from the official state register.
- Additionally: during the period of martial law, the IDA does not publish any information regarding transportation for law enforcement agencies, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, volunteers, etc.
D. Correlation and model fitting techniques
IDA uses unique, monthly updated model dictionaries, developed from official catalogs, guides and manufacturer databases. These dictionaries contain thousands of variations to ensure maximum identification accuracy.
- Calculation feature: In public ratings, all identified modifications of one model are reduced to the base model, without differentiation by body type, engine, drivetrain, or trim level.
- Consequence: Given the significant number of combinations of variants of the same model, there may be discrepancies in their calculation compared to other resources that may use less detailed dictionaries or process data without them altogether.
