Home > Statistics > Motor vehicle stock > Concepts and definitions

Concepts and definitions

Age of road vehicle

Length of time after the first registration of the road vehicle, irrespective of the registering country.

Alternative fuel/energy

A type of motor energy other than the conventional fuels, petrol and diesel.

Bicycle

A road vehicle which has two or more wheels and generally is propelled solely by the muscular energy of the persons on that vehicle, in particular by means of a pedal system, lever or handle (e.g. bicycles, tricycles, quadricycles and invalid carriages).

Included are cycles with supportive power unit.

Camping vehicle

A camping vehicle is a passenger car or coach designed for a special purpose and equipped with an accommodation compartment with the following firmly attached minimum equipment:

• seats and a table (the table may be easily removable)
• beds that can be convertible from seats (sleeping accommodation must be dimensioned for adults)
• cooking facilities (allowed if firmly attached to accommodation compartment)
• stowage space (adequate for stowing camping equipment, kitchenware, etc.)

Caravan

Towed vehicle built for touring purposes.

(NB. Data on the Region of Åland are not included as of 1990.)

Coach

A vehicle manufactured for the transportation of people. Space for 8 or more persons in addition to the driver.

Date of first registration of motor vehicle

The date of first registration of a motor vehicle is the first-time registration of the vehicle as new in a Motor Vehicle Register, irrespective of the nationality of the register.

First registration

First registration is the initial time the vehicle is registered in Finland.

Foreign road vehicle

A road vehicle registered in a country other than the reporting country and bearing registration plates of that foreign country.

Four-wheel vehicle

Four-wheel vehicle (L7e) is a power-driven four-wheeled vehicle with unladen mass of no more than 400 kg when used for passenger transport or no more than 550 kg when used for goods transport, in both cases disregarding the mass of batteries of an electrically-drive vehicle, and maximum engine power output of no more than 15 kW.

Goods road vehicle

Road vehicle designed, exclusively or primarily, to carry goods.

Included are:

a) Light goods road vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of not more than 3 500 kg, designed exclusively or primarily, to carry goods, e.g. vans and pick-ups

b) Heavy goods road vehicles with a gross vehicle weight above 3 500 kg, designed, exclusively or primarily, to carry goods

c) Road tractors

d) Agricultural tractors permitted to use roads open to public traffic.

Gross vehicle weight

Total of the weight of the vehicle (or combination of vehicles) including its load when stationary and ready for the road declared permissible by the competent authority of the country of registration.

This includes the weight of the driver and the maximum number of persons permitted to be carried.

Light four-wheel vehicle

Light four-wheel vehicle (L6e) is a power-driven four-wheeled vehicle with unladen mass of no more than 350 kg disregarding the mass of batteries of an electrically-powered vehicle and with the maximum design speed of 45 km/h. The maximum cylinder capacity of a vehicle of L6e category is 50 cc when driven by a positive ignition engine, or maximum power output of 4kW when driven by an internal combustion engine or by an electric motor.

Lorry / truck

Rigid road motor vehicle designed, exclusively or primarily, to carry goods. Gross weight in excess of 3,500 kg.

Moped

A two or three-wheeled power-driven vehicle with a design speed of no more than 45km/h.

A two-wheeled moped has a cylinder capacity of no more than 50 cc when driven by an internal combustion engine, or net power output of no more than 4kW when driven by an electric motor. A low power moped is a two-wheeled moped equipped with pedals with a design speed of no more than 25 km/h and net power output of no more than 1kW. A three-wheeled moped has a cylinder capacity of no more than 50 cc when driven by a positive ignition engine, or net power output of no more than 4kW when driven an internal combustion engine or electric motor.

Motor energy

The principal type of motor energy used by the vehicle as certified by the competent authority of the country of registration.

Motor sledge/sleigh

A motor sledge is an off road vehicle fitted with runners or tracks. A snowmobile is a motor sledge on tracks which has seats for not more than two passengers in addition to the driver and the unladen mass of which does not exceed 500 kg.

Motor-driven machine

A motorised work machine is a vehicle constructed to operate as a working machine. Motorised work machines include scoop loaders, jib cranes and sweeping machines. A motorised work machine has a design speed of no more than 40 km/h. However, a motorised work machine used in road maintenance may travel at a speed exceeding 40 km/h. A further exclusion are terminal pulltractors which may not travel at a speed exceeding 50 km/h.

Motorcar

A motorcar is a power-driven vehicle with at least four wheels or tracks constructed for carrying persons or goods or performing a specific function and having a maximum design speed exceeding 25 km/h.

Motorcycle

A two-wheeled power-driven vehicle with or without a sidecar. The cylinder capacity of its internal combustion engine is over 50 cc or its design speed is over 45 km/h.

National road vehicle

A road vehicle registered in the reporting country and bearing registration plates of that country or having been separately registered (trams, trolleybuses, etc.).

Where registration of a road vehicle does not apply in a specifi c country, a national road vehicle is a vehicle owned or leased by a person or company tax resident in that country

Passenger car

Road motor vehicle, other than a moped or a motor cycle,

intended for the carriage of passengers and designed to seat no more than nine persons (including the driver).

Passenger road motor vehicle

A road motor vehicle, exclusively designed or primarily, to carry one or more persons.

Passenger road vehicle

A road vehicle designed, exclusively or primarily, to carry one or more persons.

Road motor vehicle

A road vehicle fi tted with an engine whence it derives its sole means of propulsion, which is normally used for carrying persons or goods or for drawing, on the road, vehicles used for the carriage of persons or goods.

Road traffic

Any movement of a road vehicle on a given road network.

Road vehicle

A vehicle running on wheels and intended for use on roads.

Semi-trailer

Goods road vehicle with no front axle designed in such way that part of the vehicle and a substantial part of its loaded weight rests on a road tractor.

Three-wheel vehicle

Three-wheel vehicle (L5e) is a power-driven vehicle with the wheels arranged symmetrically in relation to the longitudinal centre axis and eqipped with a power source with a cylinder capacity exceeding 50 cc in the case of an internal combustion engine or with the maximum design speed exceeding 45 km/h whatever the means of propulsion.

Tractor

A vehicle specifically designed for agricultural and forestry work to run implements of haul trailers coupled to it. Special forestry machines such as logging tractors or forwarders, or forestry machines built on earthmoving machines are not classified as tractors but as motorised work machines.

Trailer

A trailer of a motor vehicle is a hauled vehicle constructed for the transportation of goods or for tourism purposes.

Unladen vehicle weight

Weight of vehicle (or combination of vehicles) excluding its load when stationary and ready for the road, as determined by the competent authority of the country of registration.

Van

A vehicle manufactured for the transportation of goods. Total weight of no more than 3,500 kg.

Vehicle stock

Number of road vehicles registered at a given date in a country and licensed to use roads open to public traffic. This includes road vehicles exempted from annual taxes or license fees; it also includes imported second-hand vehicles and other road vehicles according to national practices. The statistics should exclude military vehicles.

Vehicle-kilometre

Unit of measurement representing the movement of a road vehicle over one kilometre.