The number of vehicles on British roads reached its highest ever level in 2024, rising by 1.4% to 41,964,268, according to Motorparc data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).
The number of cars in use grew 1.3% or 470,556 units to 36,165,401, marking the second-biggest volume gain since 2016. The increase reflects growth in the new car market, which in 2024 saw 1.953 million new cars registered.
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said: “Britain’s vehicle parc is growing, providing essential mobility for the nation while reducing its environmental impact.
“However, there is scope to push environmental improvements much faster as motorists are holding onto their cars for longer, some one and half years longer on average, than only five years ago.
“Drivers need more incentives and greater confidence in infrastructure investment if we are to replace the high volumes of older high-emission cars with zero-emission alternatives. Success will keep the country on the move while driving up economic growth from every business dependent on road transport.”
Van use grew 1.8% to 5,102,180 units, with more than one million of these added to roads since 2015. Heavy goods vehicle volumes remained almost unchanged, down -0.1% or 364 units, at 625,509 units. Bus and coach volumes fell -0.1% to 71,718 units.
There was a 34.6% increase in plug-in vehicles which now account for one in 20 (5.1%), or 2,157,360, vehicles in use. Battery lectric cars olumes soared by 38.9% to 1,334,246 units. BEVs make up 3.7% of cars in use, up a full percentage point on 2023.
Petrol cars rose 1.0% to 21.0 million (market share of 58.2%) while diesel volumes fell -4.4% to 11.6 million (market share of 32.1%). This marks the fifth straight year of decline for diesel cars.
