11:48 am, April 24, 2026
The number of vehicles on British roads has reached record levels, with 42.5m now making up this country’s motorparc.
That is according to new data from the SMMT, which shows that the UK’s vehicle fleet rose by by 1.4% to 42,549,649 vehicles in 2025.
There was growth in van, truck, bus and coach fleets but it was cars that saw the biggest growth, rising more than half-a-million to 36,676,185 units.
This was the biggest volume increase since 2016 as the industry continues to recover from supply shortages, largely brought on by the pandemic.
Elsewhere, van and truck volumes also grew to record levels, up by 1.4% and 0.2% respectively to 5,175,598 and 626,566 units.
The UK’s bus and coach fleet, meanwhile, rose by 0.2% to 71,300 units. While this was the sector’s first growth since 2021, the number still remains some way off its peak of 103,817 unit in 2007.
The data also showed the rising impact of electric vehicles, with one in nine (4.5%) of vehicles on the road now electrified.
Meanwhile, around one in 22 (10.9%) is completely zero emission, with zero emission trucks recording the strongest growth, doubling to 1,056 units.
Zero emission bus volumes also rose sharply, up 65.2% to account for 8.1% of Britain’s bus fleet.
Battery electric vans grew by 34.6% to exceed 100,000 for the first time, with 113,256 now supporting businesses across the country, 2.2% of vans in service.
Meanwhile, a record 1,797,809 electric cars are now in use, up 34.7% on 2024.
Experts also say the UK’s fleet is getting older, with a record 45.7% of all cars on the road having now been in service for more than a decade, up from 43.4% in 2024.
As a result, the average age has now risen to 9.7 years, up from 9.5 in 2024, with insiders putting the trend down to cost-of-living pressures.
Reacting to the findings, Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: ‘Britain’s vehicle parc is growing with record numbers of newer zero emission vehicles on our roads driving environmental, economic and safety benefits.
‘This is grounds for celebration but the pace has to quicken if ambition is to match demand with the average age of vehicles on our roads actually rising.
‘A holistic review of the UK’s ZEV transition is essential, therefore, to ensure that every business and consumer can make the switch so that we can deliver net zero by 2050.’
