Archive:Motor trades statistics - NACE Rev. 2
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This article presents an overview of statistics for the motor trades sector in the European Union (EU), as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 45. The activities within this sector are very different in terms of the frequency of purchase of the goods and services offered. The purchase of motor vehicles is usually the result of a long-term process, the collection of information and comparison between different vehicles and different suppliers. The retailing and the repair of motor vehicles are to some extent substitutes, in that the purchase of a replacement vehicle may often be postponed, particularly in times of economic hardship.
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(% share of sectoral total) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_na_dt_r2)
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(% share of sectoral total) - Source: Eurostat (sbs_sc_dt_r2)
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Main statistical findings
Structural profile
There were 787 thousand enterprises operating with motor trades (Division 45) as their main activity in the EU-27 in 2010. Together they employed 3.8 million persons, equivalent to 2.9 % of all persons employed in the non-financial business economy (Sections B to J and L to N and Division 95) and 11.6 % of the distributive trades (Section G) workforce. They generated EUR 127.7 billion of value added in 2009 which was 2.3 % of the non-financial business economy total and 11.5 % of the distributive trades total.
The apparent labour productivity of the EU-27’s motor trades sector in 2010 was EUR 35.7 thousand per person employed, around one fifth lower than the non-financial business economy average (EUR 44.8 thousand per person employed) but broadly in line with the distributive trades average (EUR 35.0 thousand per person employed). Average personnel costs for the motor trades sector were EUR 28.4 thousand per employee, again below the non-financial business economy average (EUR 30.9 thousand per employee) but, in this case, above the average for distributive trades (EUR 25.9 thousand per employee). Compared with distributive trades as a whole, the higher than average personnel costs and slightly lower apparent labour productivity of the EU-27’s motor trades sector resulted in a wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio that was relatively low, 125.7 % — the distributive trades average was 135.0 %, which in turn was lower than the 144.8 % average for the non-financial business economy.
The gross operating rate is the ratio of the gross operating surplus to turnover and is a measure of operating profitability; generally enterprises operating within distributive trades have low gross operating rates because their activity inherently leads to high turnover from purchasing and selling goods without transformation. For the EU-27’s motor trades sector this rate was 4.6 % in 2010, less than half the non-financial business economy average (10.1 %) and lower than the distributive trades average (5.0 %). In 2010, the EU-27’s motor trades sector had the fourth lowest level of operating profitability (using this measure) among the NACE divisions within the EU-27’s non-financial business economy.
Sectoral analysis
The sale of motor vehicles (Group 45.1) was the largest subsector within the EU-27’s motor trades sector, particularly in value added terms where it contributed more than half the sectoral total (50.9 % in 2009). The second largest subsector was motor vehicle maintenance and repair (Group 45.2) which employed close to two fifths of the sectoral workforce in 2010 and generated three tenths of value added in 2009. An analysis of the shares for the two largest subsectors — see Figure 1 — underlines the different characteristics of these activities: the sale of motor vehicles concerns the sale of expensive capital goods, while the maintenance and repair of motor vehicles provides labour-intensive services. The third largest subsector was the sale of motor vehicle parts and accessories (Group 45.3), while by far the smallest subsector was the motorcycle distribution activity covering the sale, maintenance and repair of motorcycles as well as sales of related parts and accessories (Group 45.4).
Apparent labour productivity was notably higher for the sale of motor vehicles subsector than for other subsectors in the EU-27 in 2010, at EUR 45.3 thousand per person employed, just above the non-financial business economy average (EUR 44.8 thousand per person employed). Average personnel costs in the EU-27 were also higher for the sale of motor vehicles subsector in 2010, reaching EUR 33.5 thousand per employee, EUR 2.5 thousand above the non-financial business economy average (EUR 30.9 thousand per employee). The three other subsectors recorded levels below the non-financial business economy average for both of these ratios, with the lowest ratios recorded for the EU-27’s motor vehicle maintenance and repair subsector. When combining apparent labour productivity and average personnel costs to produce the wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio, the four subsectors split into two pairs in 2010: ratios above the EU-27 distributive trades average (135.0 %) were recorded for the two pure sales subsectors, namely the sale of motor vehicles (135.5 %) and the sale of motor vehicle parts and accessories (135.8 %), while lower wage-adjusted labour productivity ratios were recorded for motor vehicle maintenance and repair (113.5 %) and for motorcycle distribution (102.0 %). As such, wage-adjusted labour productivity ratios for all four subsectors were below the non-financial business economy average (144.8 %).
There was far more diversity in the EU-27 gross operating rates of the four subsectors in 2010. The motor vehicle maintenance and repair subsector stood out from the others as its 11.1 % gross operating rate was above the non-financial business economy average (10.1 %), and was more than double the rate in some of the other subsectors. The lowest rate of 3.2 % was recorded for the sale of motor vehicles; this was the second lowest rate among the distributive trades NACE groups in 2010 and the sixth lowest among the non-financial business economy NACE groups for which 2010 data are available.
Country analysis
Germany’s motor trades sector generated EUR 31.6 billion of value added in 2010, the highest figure among the EU Member States; the United Kingdom (EUR 24.9 billion), France (EUR 19.0 billion) and Italy (EUR 12.7 billion) followed. In three of the four subsectors that make-up the motor trades sector, Germany was the largest Member State in value added terms and the United Kingdom was the second largest; the exception was the sale, maintenance and repair of motorcycles as well as sales of related parts and accessories where France recorded the highest level of value added, ahead of Germany and the United Kingdom.
Belgium was the most specialised country for motor trades in value added terms, as it generated 3.0 % of its non-financial business economy value added in this sector in 2010. Also relatively highly specialised in motor trades were the United Kingdom (where 2.7 % of non-financial business economy value added came from this sector) and Portugal (2.6 %). The least specialised EU Member State was Ireland where just 1.2 % of non-financial business economy value added stemmed from motor trades.
The relatively low wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio recorded for the EU-27’s motor trades sector in 2010 was quite widespread. Cyprus, Ireland and Italy recorded ratios between 98.0 % and 100.0 % in 2010, indicating that apparent labour productivity was slightly lower than average personnel costs. Only the United Kingdom recorded a wage-adjusted labour productivity ratio for motor trades that was above its national non-financial business economy average.
Given the distributive nature of the motor trades sector, it is unsurprising that its gross operating rate was lower than the average for the whole of the non-financial business in each of the EU Member States in 2010. The United Kingdom recorded the highest gross operating rate (8.3 %) for the motor trades sector in 2010, while Denmark (2.3 %), France (2.2 %) and Ireland (2.0 %) recorded the lowest rates.
Size class analysis
The enterprise size structure of the EU-27’s motor trades sector shows the importance of micro and small enterprises (employing fewer than 50 persons): these enterprises were responsible for 58.3 % of the sector’s value added and 70.4 % of the workforce in 2010. The value added shares of medium-sized enterprises (employing 50 to 249 persons) and large enterprises (employing 250 or more persons) were both about one fifth of the sectoral total.
Micro enterprises employed more than half of the motor trades sector’s workforce in nine EU Member States, with this share rising above three fifths in Poland (62.9 %), Italy (64.6 %) and Cyprus (65.2 %). In Cyprus, the value added generated by micro enterprises exceeded half of the sectoral total. In at least nine Member States, micro enterprises generated more value added in the motor trades sector than any of the three other size classes (shown in Table 6b). Small enterprises accounted for more than two fifths of the sectoral value added in Lithuania, Ireland, Slovakia and Estonia, while medium-sized enterprises were particularly important in Poland (36.3 % of motor trades value added) and large enterprises in the United Kingdom (39.9 %).
Data sources and availability
The analysis presented in this article is based on the main dataset for structural business statistics (SBS) and size class data, all of which are published annually.
The main series provides information for each EU Member State as well as a number of non-member countries at a detailed level according to the activity classification NACE. Data are available for a wide range of variables.
In structural business statistics, size classes are generally defined by the number of persons employed. A limited set of the standard structural business statistics variables (for example, the number of enterprises, turnover, persons employed and value added) are analysed by size class, mostly down to the three-digit (group) level of NACE. The main size classes used in this article for presenting the results are:
- small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs): with 1 to 249 persons employed, further divided into;
- micro enterprises: with less than 10 persons employed;
- small enterprises: with 10 to 49 persons employed;
- medium-sized enterprises: with 50 to 249 persons employed;
- large enterprises: with 250 or more persons employed.
Context
This article presents an overview of statistics for the motor trades sector in the EU, as covered by NACE Rev. 2 Division 45. This division includes all activities related to motor vehicles (except their manufacture and renting) and also covers vans, caravans, motor homes, lorries, trailers and trucks. The activities concerned are the sale of new and second-hand vehicles, their repair and maintenance, and the sale of parts and accessories. Sales include both wholesale (own account and commission) and retail sales. Maintenance and repair also includes activities such as washing, polishing and the installation of parts and accessories. The same activities (sale, repair, maintenance, installation of parts and accessories) for motorcycles and mopeds are covered separately.
This NACE division is composed of four groups:
- the sale of motor vehicles (Group 45.1);
- the maintenance and repair of motor vehicles (Group 45.2);
- the sale of motor vehicle parts and accessories (Group 45.3);
- the sale, maintenance and repair of motorcycles and related parts and accessories (Group 45.4).
This division does not include the retail sale of automotive fuel and lubricating or cooling products (part of retail trade, Division 47) or the renting of motor vehicles or motorcycles (included within rental and leasing activities, Division 77).
See also
- Distributive trades
- Other analyses of the business economy by NACE Rev. 2 sector
- Structural business statistics introduced
Further Eurostat information
Publications
- European business - facts and figures (online publication)
- Key figures on European Business – with a special feature section on SMEs – 2011 edition
Main tables
Database
- SBS – trade (sbs_dt)
- Annual detailed enterprise statistics – trade (sbs_na_dt)
- Annual detailed enterprise statistics for trade (NACE Rev. 2 G) (sbs_na_dt_r2)
- SMEs - Annual enterprise statistics by size class – trade (sbs_sc_dt)
- Distributive trades by employment size class (NACE Rev. 2 G) (sbs_sc_dt_r2)
- Distributive trades by size class of turnover (NACE Rev. 2 G) (sbs_sctrn_dt_r2)
- Breakdown of turnover by product - trade (dt_cpa)
- Turnover by product type for wholesale trade (NACE Rev. 2 G46) (dt_cpa_n46_r2)
- Annual detailed enterprise statistics – trade (sbs_na_dt)
- SBS - regional data - all activities (sbs_r)
- SBS data by NUTS 2 regions and NACE Rev. 2 (from 2008 onwards) (sbs_r_nuts06_r2)
Dedicated section
Source data for tables and figures (MS Excel)
Other information
- Decision 1578/2007/EC of 11 December 2007 on the Community Statistical Programme 2008 to 2012
- Regulation 295/2008 of 11 March 2008 concerning structural business statistics