What happened to Division 45 in NACE Rev. 2.1?

Division 45, for the sale and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, was removed in NACE Rev. 2.1, and its activities were placed under Division 46 for wholesale trade, Division 47 for retail trade, and Division 95 for repair and maintenance. The division did not merge into a single new heading. It was divided across three divisions that already existed for trade and repair in general. The change is a restructure.

It removes the separate treatment of motor vehicle trade and repair as a division of its own, and it groups those activities with the corresponding trade and repair activities for other goods.

How is the removal shown?

The removal is shown by the absence of Division 45 from the Rev. 2.1 structure, together with correspondence rows that point its former headings to Divisions 46, 47 and 95. Statistics Netherlands states the change plainly for the Dutch variant, which follows the European structure at the first four levels: the category of trade in and repair of cars, motorcycles and trailers is removed and reclassified under Division 46, Division 47 and Division 95. The Spanish statistical institute describes the same change in its explanatory document for the Spanish variant: Division 45 was removed, and its activities are now included under Division 46, Division 47 and Division 95. Two national institutes, describing their own variants from the same European structure, state the same destination divisions. That agreement is the verification for this guide. The detailed class rows must still be read in the Eurostat correspondence tables for the headings concerned.

Former area	New division	New division area
Sale of motor vehicles and motorcycles	46	Wholesale trade
Retail sale of motor vehicles and motorcycles	47	Retail trade
Repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles	95	Repair and maintenance

The table above shows destination divisions as stated by Statistics Netherlands and the Spanish statistical institute. It does not list class level rows, which must be read in the correspondence tables. A division destination never picks the class for a specific activity.

Why was a separate division removed?

A separate division groups activities that share a production process or a market. When motor vehicle trade and repair are grouped with other wholesale trade, other retail trade and other repair, the classification states that the trade or repair character matters more for grouping than the motor vehicle character. The Spanish explanatory document links the change to the wider trade restructure, in which classification by sales channel was also removed. The two changes work together: trade is now grouped by wholesale or retail character, and repair is grouped with repair, rather than by the type of vehicle or the channel of sale. The change affects presentation of statistics. Nothing about a specific business is decided, and the activities themselves are not affected.

What happens to series that used Division 45?

Series compiled under Division 45 cannot be continued by copying a single new division. Wholesale figures must be read under Division 46 alongside other wholesale trade, retail figures under Division 47 alongside other retail trade, and repair figures under Division 95 alongside other repair. Eurostat and its partners prepare backcasting and double reporting so that statistics can be presented under both versions for a period, and those published series are the comparable basis across the change. A reader who follows only one destination division will lose part of the former Division 45 and will misstate the trend. The correspondence table shows all three destinations. The published backcast or double reported series shows the numbers.

What does the removal not decide?

The removal does not decide the class for any specific business, and it does not decide licensing, tax, funding or collective agreement questions. A business that sold and repaired motor vehicles under the old structure may now have activities recorded under more than one division, and the principal activity method, as described in the introductory guidelines, governs how a single principal description is chosen for statistical purposes. This guide describes the method only in general terms and does not apply it to any specific business. The entry is confirmed with the national statistical institute or the business register that holds the record, with the version stated beside every code.

Division 45 ended as a division, its trade went to Divisions 46 and 47, its repair went to Division 95, and the correspondence rows for each class show the exact new place.