Britain has over 34 million vehicles on the roads

At the end of 2010 there were 34.1 million vehicles licensed for use on the roads in Great Britain of which 28.4 million were cars.
March 1, 2012 Read time: 2 mins
At the end of 2010 there were 34.1 million vehicles licensed for use on the roads in Great Britain of which 28.4 million were cars.

According to the latest statistics from the 5432 Department for Transport (DfT), since 1994, the number of licensed cars in Great Britain has increased by 34%. Over the same period the number of light good vehicles and motorcycles has increased by 50% and 71% respectively.

However, while the number of licensed cars and light vans increased from 2009 to 2010, the number of motorcycles decreased by 3.2% and the number of both heavy goods vehicles and buses and coaches decreased by 1.5%.

A total of 2.4 million vehicles were registered for the first time in 2010, a 47,000 vehicle increase (or 2%) from the previous year.

The statistics also reveal that for the second year running, the 3423 Ford Fiesta has been the most popular new registration with almost 102,000 new cars registered during 2010 (down from the 114,000 new registrations in 2009), while the Ford Focus, which was the most popular new car from 2001-2008, fell to third place behind the 3502 Vauxhall Astra.

The top five car manufacturers in terms of new registrations (Ford, Vauxhall, 3503 Volkswagen, 1233 BMW and 3504 Peugeot) accounted for 45% of the new car registrations in 2010, similar to 2009, except that 2728 Toyota was in the top five instead of BMW.

“However, new vehicle registrations appear to be on a general downward trend from a peak in the early-2000s. Much of the decrease in new registrations from 2007 will have been as a result of the recession and the ongoing economic climate,” says the DfT.

For more information on companies in this article

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