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.

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.

Key information about UK Registered Motor Vehicles

• UK Registered Motor Vehicles was reported at 42,403.988 Unit th in Dec 2020.
• This records an increase from the previous number of 38,219.610 Unit th for Dec 2015.
• UK Registered Motor Vehicles data is updated yearly, averaging 35,585.020 Unit th from Dec 2005 to 2020, with 12 observations.
• The data reached an all-time high of 42,403.988 Unit th in 2020 and a record low of 34,393.823 Unit th in 2005.
• UK Registered Motor Vehicles data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers. The data is categorized under World Trend Plus’s Association: Automobile Sector – Table RA.OICA.VIU: Vehicle In Use: by Country (Discontinued).

This statistic represents the percentage of cars registered in the United Kingdom (UK) from 2014 to 2019 according to their sales type. The share of new cars sold in fleets, i.e. in large numbers, dominates the sales types for the period in consideration. In 2019, 53.3 percent of the newly registered cars were fleet. Business sales presented a trend of decline throughout the years recorded, falling from 4.8 to 2.6 percent of new registrations.

This dataset contains details of the number of registered vehicles based upon registering address in Leicester and is sourced from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA).Data is updated quarterly.This dataset is also part of a dashboard that has been created showing a range of transport related data. The dashboard can be viewed here.

Over the period in consideration, as some of the most affordable cars, superminis were the most popular segment type. In 2022, approximately 490,900 new supermini cars were registered, a slight decrease compared to the previous year.

United Kingdom Motor Vehicles Registered: Newly: Car: Great Britain: By Make: Others data was reported at 40.500 Unit th in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 39.285 Unit th for 2016. United Kingdom Motor Vehicles Registered: Newly: Car: Great Britain: By Make: Others data is updated yearly, averaging 24.300 Unit th from Dec 2009 (Median) to 2017, with 9 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 40.500 Unit th in 2017 and a record low of 16.300 Unit th in 2012. United Kingdom Motor Vehicles Registered: Newly: Car: Great Britain: By Make: Others data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department for Transport. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.RA003: Motor Vehicle Registered: Newly: Car: By Make.

Number of licensed vehicles (in thousands) at year end broken down by type including , cars, motor cycles, light goods, heavy goods, buses an coaches, and Other.

Vehicles are allocated to a local authority according to the postcode of the registered keeper. This is the keeper's address for privately owned vehicles or the company's registered address for company owned vehicles. Significant changes in the number of vehicles from year to year can often occur when a companies with a large number of vehicles change their registered address.
Other vehicles includes rear diggers, lift trucks, rollers, ambulances, Hackney Carriages, three wheelers and agricultural vehicles.
Data from DFT Table VEH0104 and VEH0105.

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/vehicles-statistics

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 **** percent in comparison with 1990.

EU UK: Number of Motor Vehicles: NR: Passenger Cars data was reported at 234,945.000 Unit in Jun 2018. This records an increase from the previous number of 192,649.000 Unit for May 2018. EU UK: Number of Motor Vehicles: NR: Passenger Cars data is updated monthly, averaging 162,430.000 Unit from Jan 1990 (Median) to Jun 2018, with 342 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 562,337.000 Unit in Mar 2017 and a record low of 33,051.000 Unit in Jul 1992. EU UK: Number of Motor Vehicles: NR: Passenger Cars data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. The data is categorized under World Trend Plus’s Association: Automobile Sector – Table EU.TA012: European Automobile Manufacturers Association: No of Motor Vehicle: Newly Registered.

United Kingdom Motor Vehicles Registered: Newly: Car: By Make: Porsche data was reported at 14.553 Unit th in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 13.824 Unit th for 2016. United Kingdom Motor Vehicles Registered: Newly: Car: By Make: Porsche data is updated yearly, averaging 13.824 Unit th from Dec 2015 (Median) to 2017, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 14.553 Unit th in 2017 and a record low of 12.953 Unit th in 2015. United Kingdom Motor Vehicles Registered: Newly: Car: By Make: Porsche data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Department for Transport. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.RA003: Motor Vehicle Registered: Newly: Car: By Make.

Roadside survey of vehicle registration marks. Dataset consists of photographs of cars on the UK road network, and auto-captured number plate data, for purposes of estimating rate of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) evasion, and estimating proportion of foreign-registered vehicles on British roads. Photos are taken at c. 200 sites around UK each June. Roughly 1.5-1.7 million marks captured per year. Survey now moved to biennially rather than annually, operating in odd-numbered years from 2011 onwards.

In the period under consideration, commercial vehicle registrations oscillated. In 2003 there were just under 363,700 vehicles registered in the UK. This number remained relatively stable until 2008 when it amounted to around 355,900 cars. In 2009, commercial vehicle registrations dropped to the lowest value registered, with less than 229,800 units. In the following years, registrations increased until reaching a peak of 430,694 units in 2016. Between 2017 and 2019, registrations dropped and stagnated before dropping to 292,657 vehicles registered in 2020. In the last year, the number of new commercial car registrations increased dramatically compared to the previous year and reached 282,139.

A pan-european API for car number plate lookups. Our API is a .NET ASMX webservice, that allows you connect from any programming environment, either .NET (C#, Visual Basic .NET), or through any programming language that supports SOAP (PHP nuSoap, Python, Ruby, Java etc.). Register for free and we will set you up with a test account, where you can make 10 vehicle lookups for free. If you require higher volume of lookups, then our fee is £0.15 per lookup, purchased in blocks of a minimum of 100, a 10% discount is available for packages over 1000.

Car Registrations in the United Kingdom decreased to 82908 Units in August from 140154 Units in July of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Car Registrations - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

European Union Motor Vehicle New Registered: Passenger Cars: EU 27 excl UK data was reported at 1,029,519.000 Unit in Mar 2025. This records an increase from the previous number of 853,670.000 Unit for Feb 2025. European Union Motor Vehicle New Registered: Passenger Cars: EU 27 excl UK data is updated monthly, averaging 923,868.000 Unit from Jan 2006 (Median) to Mar 2025, with 231 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1,357,349.000 Unit in Mar 2006 and a record low of 270,357.000 Unit in Apr 2020. European Union Motor Vehicle New Registered: Passenger Cars: EU 27 excl UK data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by European Automobile Manufacturers' Association. The data is categorized under World Trend Plus’s Association: Automobile Sector – Table EU.TA013: European Automobile Manufacturers Association: No of Motor Vehicle: Newly Registered. [COVID-19-IMPACT]