Eight fascinating car facts you may not know!

Think you know about cars? Here are some fun facts that highlight current car trends and show how motoring has changed over the decades.

1) Which city has the highest number of pure electric and plug-in cars?

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Birmingham has the most pure electric and plug-in cars in the UK. 8.7% of all plug-in electric vehicles in the country are located in Birmingham.

2) What percentage of new cars are automatic?

SMMT research reveals that 40% of new cars registered in 2017 were automatic. That’s a 70.5% increase when compared to 2007.

3) How many vehicles are there in the UK?

At the end of September 2019, there were 38.9 million licensed vehicles in this country. That’s an increase of 1.3% on the previous year. Of these, 32.0 million (82.2%) were cars. 4.1 million (10.6%) were LGVs, 0.50 million (1.3%) were HGVs while 1.3 million (3.5%) were motorcycles.

4) What’s the most common car in the UK?

According to the SMMT, there were 1.5 million Ford Fiesta cars licenced at the end of December 2018. The next most common car was the Ford Focus with 1.3 million, and this was followed by the Vauxhall Corsa with 1.1 million.

5) How old is the average car?

SMMT data shows that the average age of a car is 8 years. Department for Transport figures reveal that in 2018, petrol cars had an average age of 9.1 years, making them older than the 6.9 years for diesel cars.

6) In 2019, what was the most popular new car colour?

Grey was the number one new car colour in 2019. 521,273 new grey cars were registered in the year – an increase of 5.3%. More than one in five new cars (22.6%) sold were painted grey. 60.7% of new cars registered were painted either grey, black or white. Silver was at its lowest number of registrations for 20 years – previously it had been in the top three 16 times in the last twenty years.

7) How many driving licence holders are there?

In the UK, the total number of driving licences registered with DVLA was 49,932,206 in December 2019. 41,080,771 were Full Driving Entitlement Licences, and 8,351,435 were Provisional Entitlement Licences. However, this isn’t an accurate reflection as DVLA data includes holders who have died or emigrated and are still on their database.

8) How many miles do vehicles travel on Britain’s roads?

In 2018, 328.1 billion vehicle miles were driven on this country’s roads, a 0.3% rise on the previous year.

Since 1949, motor vehicle traffic has increased more than ten-fold from 28.9 to 328.1 billion vehicle miles. Of this increase, car traffic in 2018 was around 20 times higher, whereas lorry traffic was only twice as high and bus traffic was similar to the 1949 level according to Road Traffic Estimates: Great Britain 2018. Source Road Traffic Stats

Looking for a friendly local garage?

We offer car servicing, car maintenance and car repairs for all makes and models of vehicles, including classic and vintage cars. Free collection and delivery can be arranged if you live near our Fleet or Dogmersfield service centres.