There were around 33.2 million passenger cars in operation in the United Kingdom in 2022. UK roads have become busier since experiencing the most significant decline in the aftermath of the 2008-09 financial crisis. It remains to be seen whether the coronavirus crisis will cause a similar dent in the graph.

Car ownership per household

The majority of car owners in the UK have one car available to them. As of 2018, 53 percent of motorists had one vehicle in their household. Only one percent of respondents owned five cars or more.

Road safety The number of car drivers involved in reported road accidents in Great Britain fell to a record-low of just under 160,000 in 2019. The age group of under 16 year olds witnessed a sharp drop in the number of traffic-related fatalities in 2019. That said, all other age groups reported an increase in fatalities between 2018 and 2019.

This statistic illustrates the number of passenger cars registered in the United Kingdom (UK) from 1990 to 2017, in thousand vehicles. In the period of consideration, UK's stock of passenger cars presented a trend of continuous growth. In 2017, 32. 2 million passenger cars were registered in the UK. This value represents an increase of 55.4 percent in comparison with 1990.

The Ford Fiesta was the most common passenger car to be found on roads in the United Kingdom at the end of 2018. It began production in the 1970s and is currently in its seventh generation. Since then, the number of registered models has grown to over 1.5 million units. The Fiesta was followed by another Ford model, the 1998 released Focus.
The U.S. based automobile manufacturer began selling vehicles to the UK from the early twentieth century onwards and has since become one of the most beloved car brands in the country.

Best-selling models 2018

Not only was the Ford Fiesta the model with the greatest number of cumulative registrations, it has also remained popular to this day and, as of 2018, it was the best-selling car model in the UK. Close to 96,000 units were sold that year, putting it far ahead of its nearest competitor – Volkswagen Golf.

Ford sales in the UK

Ford sold some 254,000 cars in the UK in 2018. Monthly figures for March and September were noticeably higher than those for other months as this was when the Driver & Vehicle Licensing Agency issued registrations plates.

This statistic illustrates the number of cars per household in the in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2014 and 2015. The survey was conducted with more than 4,000 respondents of the age of 17 or older during June 2014 and March 2015. For both years, the majority of respondents stated that their is only one car in their household. The number of households with only one car increased from 2014 to 2015 from 44 percent to 45 percent. The same development is noticeable in the next two categories, "households with two cars" and "households with three or more cars". In both categories an increasing share of respondents answered the question. As a result of this development, the share of respondents who answered the question with "none" cars in their household, declined from 31 percent of the respondents in 2014 to 24 percent of respondents in 2015.The share of respondents is verified by another statistic illustrating the number of cars owned by households in the United Kingdom in 2015.

This statistic shows a forecast of the share of new connected vehicles on roads in the United Kingdom between 2018 and 2030. Forecasts suggest that 100 percent of all new vehicles registered would be connected by 2026. In 2019, the share of connected vehicles was estimated to amount to 71 percent.

Forecast: Number of Road Motor Vehicles in the UK 2022 - 2026 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

London was home to some 2.6 million passenger cars in 2020. Between 1995 and 2020, the number of licensed cars in the capital city saw a net increase of 17 percent, although figures have declined in the last two years recorded. Overall, there were some 32.7 million cars in the United Kingdom in 2020. London has the longest metro network in Europe. However, despite efforts to promote public transportation as a way to reduce fossil fuel intensive car driving, the motor vehicle still proved popular.

Pollution fighting schemes

In recent years, the Greater London Authority has increased incentives to stifle car usage in the city center. It introduced the Congestion Charge Zone in 2003, the Low Emission Zone in 2008, and followed up with the Ultra Low Emission Zone in early 2019, which are all intended to reduce traffic pollution and improve air quality. On average, around two million unique vehicles traversed the Congestion Charge Zone every month in 2018.

Car-sharing: a means to reduce car ownership

According to a 2018 survey, members of car-sharing clubs in London are more likely to own no cars of their own after joining. While more than half of those participating in car sharing associations were already car-less before becoming members, the share increased to 73 percent after. Vehicle sales in the UK declined dramatically amid the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020.

Forecast: Share of Passenger Cars in Total Road Motor Vehicles in the UK 2023 - 2027 Discover more data with ReportLinker!

15 smart sensors were installed on Mill Road and surrounding streets to record numbers of pedestrians, bicycles, cars and other vehicles. The data being collated and analysed by the Smart Cambridge programme will help the Greater Cambridge Partnership understand how people use the road network.

Data will be released monthly for these locations until the end of 2020. Please note that due to the level of insight that can be gained from these sensors, additional sensors in more locations have been installed in Cambridge since the summer of 2019. Some sensors will remain beyond 2020 in strategic locations and the network is expected to grow. Data for those more permanent sites, outside of the Mill Road project will be published here: https://data.cambridgeshireinsight.org.uk/dataset/cambridge-city-smart-s...

Mill Road Bridge was closed for eight weeks from 1 July 2019 for crucial work being carried out to improve rail services. Pedestrians and cyclists will still be able to cross the railway for most of the working time.

A high concentration of sensors were installed for approximately 18 months to gather data before the closure, during the time when there is no vehicle traffic coming over Mill Road Bridge and then after the bridge is re-opened. This has allowed engineers to see the impact of the closure on surrounding roads, including on air quality. Keeping the sensors in place for this long has also allowed teams to make greater comparisons, by taking in to account daily, weekly, monthly and annual variations in traffic levels.

The below data release offers counts for each sensor over 1 hour periods. The curent data covers the period 03/06/2019 to 13/12/2020.

Hourly counts are broken down by inbound and outbound journeys. .

Counts are also broken down by vehicle type. This includes:

Pedestrians Cyclists Buses LGV OGV 1 OGV 2 The release also includes a full list of sensor sites with geographic point location data.

The statistics refer to the volume of road traffic in Wales by type of vehicle. Road traffic estimates for Wales are compiled by the Department for Transport on behalf of the Welsh Government. These estimates are based on the annual roadside manual road traffic counts carried out across Wales during the year. These roadside counts are combined with automatic traffic count (ATC) data and road lengths to produce overall traffic estimates. Traffic estimates for major roads are based on a census of all such roads whereas traffic estimates for minor roads are estimated by calculating growth rates from a fixed sample of count points on the minor road network. Further details of the methodology are available from the DfT at the link below: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/road-traffic-speeds-and-congestion-statistics-guidance. The analysis by vehicle type is based on roadside observation where vehicles are classified according to their general appearance. The vehicle types identified are: 1) Pedal cycles: Includes all non-motorised cycles, 2) Motorcycles: Two-wheeled motor vehicles, including mopeds, motor scooters and motorcycle combinations, 3) Cars and taxis: Includes estate cars, all light vans with windows to the rear of the driver's seat, passenger vehicles with 9 seats or fewer, three-wheeled cars, motorised-invalid carriages, Land Rovers, Range Rovers and Jeeps. Cars towing caravans or trailers are counted as one vehicle, 4) Buses and coaches: Includes all public service vehicles and works buses other than vehicles with less than 10 seats, 5) Light vans: All goods vehicles up to 3,500kg gross vehicle weight. This includes all car-based vans and those of the next larger carrying-capacity, such as transit vans. Also included are ambulances, pick-ups, milk floats and pedestrian-controlled motor vehicles. Most of this group are delivery vans of one type or another, 6) Goods vehicles: All goods vehicles over 3,500kg gross vehicle weight. Includes tractors (without trailers), road-rollers, box vans and similar large vans. A two-axle motor tractor unit without trailer is also included, 7) All motor vehicles: All vehicles except pedal cycles. Traffic volume is measured using Vehicle Kilometres (VKM), which are calculated by multiplying the annual average daily flow of traffic by the corresponding length of road. For example, 1 vehicle travelling 1 kilometre a day for a year would be 365 VKM over a year.

In 2023, there were 1.90 million new passenger cars registered in the United Kingdom. This was an 18 percent increase compared to the previous year. The UK new car market has recorded its best year since the pandemic. The growth in 2023, was attributed to fleet investment, as the supply constraints of the previous year faded, thereby facilitating the fulfillment of accumulated demand. . What consumers want The most important feature British consumers were looking for in their new car was fuel efficiency. According to a 2023 Statista survey, some 56 percent of respondents reported this characteristic to be of importance to them when deciding on a new purchase. Vehicle safety, suitability for everyday use, low price, and high driving comfort were the features rounding off the top five. Total number of licensed cars The overall number of licensed cars in Great Britain came close to 32.2 million units in 2022, which marked a full recovery from the dip recorded in 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost 31.9 million units were registered in Great Britain in 2019.

This dataset provides Census 2022 estimates for Car or van availability in the unit of occupied households in Scotland.

Cars or vans, number of

The number of cars or vans that are owned or available for use by members of a household.

This includes:

• Company cars and vans that are available for private use.
• Caravans and campervans
• Pickups and minibuses
• Cars or vans that are temporarily not working (as long as a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) declaration has not been made for them).

This does not include:

• Motorbikes or motorcycles
• Company cars that can only be used for work purposes
• Vehicles for which a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN) declaration has been made

Details of classification can be found here

The quality assurance report can be found here

The census is undertaken by the Office for National Statistics every 10 years and gives us a picture of all the people and households in England and Wales. The most recent census took place in March of 2021.The census asks every household questions about the people who live there and the type of home they live in. In doing so, it helps to build a detailed snapshot of society. Information from the census helps the government and local authorities to plan and fund local services, such as education, doctors' surgeries and roads.Key census statistics for Leicester are published on the open data platform to make information accessible to local services, voluntary and community groups, and residents. There is also a dashboard published showcasing various datasets from the census allowing users to view data for Leicester and compare this with national statistics.Further information about the census and full datasets can be found on the ONS website - https://www.ons.gov.uk/census/aboutcensus/censusproductsCar availabilityThis dataset provides Census 2021 estimates on the number of cars or vans available to members of households for England and Wales. The estimates are as at Census Day, 21 March 2021.Definition: The number of cars or vans owned or available for use by household members.Vehicles included:pick-ups, camper vans and motor homesvehicles that are temporarily not working vehicles that have failed their MOTvehicles owned or used by a lodgercompany cars or vans if they're available for private useVehicles not included:motorbikes, trikes, quad bikes or mobility scootersvehicles that have a Statutory Off Road Notification (SORN)vehicles owned or used only by a visitor vehicles that are kept at another address or not easily accessedThe number of cars or vans in an area relates only to households. Cars or vans used by communal establishment residents are not counted.Households with 10 to 20 cars or vans are counted as having only 10.Households with more than 20 cars or vans were treated as invalid and a value imputed.This dataset includes data for Leicester city and England overall.

United Kingdom Road Traffic: Cars data was reported at 104.600 Vehicle-km bn in Jun 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 94.800 Vehicle-km bn for Mar 2018. United Kingdom Road Traffic: Cars data is updated quarterly, averaging 96.650 Vehicle-km bn from Mar 1993 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 102 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 105.900 Vehicle-km bn in Sep 2017 and a record low of 78.500 Vehicle-km bn in Mar 1993. United Kingdom Road Traffic: Cars data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department for Transport. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.TA019: Road Traffic Statistics.