Credit: confused.com

Luxembourg recorded the highest share of new car registrations in the first quarter of 2022, from January to March, with almost 91 vehicles per 1,000 people being less than two years old, a study by Confused.com has found.

With an average of almost 91 new vehicles per 1,000 people, Luxembourg topped as the country most likely to own a new car. When compared to countries with a similar population size, this is almost three times more than Cyprus (32.57 new vehicles per 1,000 people). This also equates to almost a quarter (24.50%) of cars on the road in Luxembourg are less than two years old, the highest percentage in Europe.

Drivers in Liechtenstein are the second most likely to own a new car, with 52.47 new cars per 1,000 people. This is 42% fewer new vehicles per 1,000 people than in Luxembourg, but 36% more than their Swiss neighbours (38.53 new cars per 1,000 people). This means that almost one-in-six (14.57%) registered vehicles in Liechtenstein are less than two years old.

Lithuanian drivers place third. There were 51.32 new vehicles per 1,000 people in Lithuania, 77% more than similarly sized Slovenia (28.99 vehicles per 1,000 people). Despite this, Lithuania has the lowest percentage share of new vehicles in Europe (1.93%), a 39% decrease from their Latvian neighbours (3.19%).

Vehicle owners in Belgium are the fourth most likely to own the latest cars. In total, there are 47.51 new vehicles per 1,000 people, a 56% increase from France (30.29 per 1,000 people). This means that almost one-in-four (22.69%) registered vehicles in Belgium are less than two years old – the third highest percentage in Europe.

Alex Kindred, car insurance expert at Confused.com, said: "The year a vehicle was manufactured can have an impact on our insurance rates. It's likely that newer cars are going to be more expensive to insure than older models. This is because if we were to make a claim, newer components are likely to be more expensive to buy and repair".

He added: "However, prices can be made lower if newer cars have modern safety features, such as reverse cameras, lane assist and collision awareness. Although, the only way to know if you're getting the best price is to shop around and compare car insurance prices, especially if you have a newer car".

The study, commissioned by uswitch.com, uses historical vehicle stock data from European statistics agency, Eurostat, to find the proportion of vehicles less than two years old as a percentage of all vehicles in each country.