Official vehicle‑registration numbers drive pricing, fleet planning and policy in Germany and Austria — but the data live on several different portals and use different definitions. This guide shows step‑by‑step where to find authoritative EU and national registration files, how to read the metadata and how to cite them correctly, with worked examples for Austria and Romania.

Step‑by‑step: find the right dataset

1) Start at the EU aggregators: ACEA and the European statistical services. New passenger‑car registration series assembled from national authorities are distributed by ACEA and mirrored in ECB/Eurostat datasets (ACEA is the primary provider for monthly new‑car registrations). For machine‑readable series (CSV/SDMX) use the ECB ‘CAR’ dataset and Eurostat metadata pages.

2) For national detail use the national statistics office or the licensing authority. Austria: Statistik Austria publishes an open‑data set called “Kfz‑Neuzulassungen” and provides downloadable tables such as “Pkw‑Neuzulassungen nach Marke” (monthly series from Jan 2000) and regular press releases (latest press release cited: 9 Oct 2026). These OGD tables include fuel‑type and regional breakdowns and are CC BY.

3) Romania: the national statistical office (INS) publishes quarterly and annual bulletins “Înmatriculări noi de vehicule rutiere” which cite the national vehicle‑licensing authority (Direcţia Generală Permise de Conducere şi Înmatriculări, formerly DRPCIV / DGPCI) as the source for the raw registration file. INS issued a press bulletin for Q3 2026 (dissemination note 04.11.2026) that explicitly names DGPCI/DRPCIV as the administrative supplier. Industry bodies such as APIA also publish monthly summaries based on the DGPCI/DRPCIV feed.

4) Check metadata and definitions before you download: confirm whether tables count first registrations only (first national registration), include short/one‑day registrations, or record changes of owner. The ECB/ACEA documentation and national methodological notes explain classification and release timing — ACEA normally issues monthly figures in the third week of the month. For time‑series comparability always download the dataset’s metadata file.

5) Download formats and versioning: prefer the national OGD CSV/ODS when you need brand‑by‑month or regional splits (Statistik Austria provides ODS/CSV tables). For EU aggregates use the ECB/Eurostat SDMX/CSV extracts; note the dataset update date in the file header. (Example: the ECB CAR dataset shows a last update stamp of 23 June 2026 in its catalogue.)

6) Reconcile differences: national totals may differ slightly from ACEA/Eurostat because of late corrections or different cut‑offs. Always cite both the national source and the aggregator you used, and record the access date.

Concrete citation examples

Austria (data file): Statistik Austria, “Pkw‑Neuzulassungen nach Marke”, Open Data (Kfz‑Neuzulassungen), dataset accessed 6 Nov 2026. (Cite the table name, Statistik Austria, dataset ID and your access date.)

Romania (quarterly bulletin): Institutul Naţional de Statistică (INS), “Înmatriculări noi de vehicule rutiere, în trimestrul III 2026”, source: Direcţia Generală Permise de Conducere şi Înmatriculări (DGPCI/DRPCIV), communiqué 4 Nov 2026. (List INS as publisher, DGPCI/DRPCIV as data supplier, and include access date.)

What this means for the market

For German and Austrian dealers, fleet managers and journalists the practical upshot is clear: use national open‑data tables (Statistik Austria for Austria) when you need brand or regional granularity; use ACEA/ECB/Eurostat for pan‑European time series and comparisons. Always document the national supplier (for Romania the DGPCI/DRPCIV named by INS) and the exact file and access date — that preserves reproducibility when national agencies issue later revisions.

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Sources: ACEA / ECB Data Portal, Statistik Austria, Institutul Naţional de Statistică (INS), Direcţia Generală Permise de Conducere şi Înmatriculări (DGPCI / DRPCIV), APIA