TSGB 2011: Vehicles

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Summary

This chapter of Transport Statistics Great Britain presents statistics on the number licensed vehicles, vehicle ownership, vehicle usage, MOTs and driving tests.

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Key points

The number of licensed vehicles in Great Britain has increased from about 4 million in 1950 to over 34 million in 2010.
The number of licensed vehicles has grown by about 3.7 per cent a year on average from 1950 to 2010. However, it grew by 0.7 per cent in 2008, 0.1 per cent in 2009 and 0.5 per cent in 2010. Aside from 1990 to 1991, the growth since 2008 has been the lowest growth period on record.
Over 28.2 million MOT tests were carried out in 2010/11. The vast majority of these (26.6 million) were of cars and other small passenger vehicles (up to 12 seats). The overall pass rate was remained steady at around 70 per cent since 2000/01.
The proportion of households with access to car or van has risen from 14 per cent in 1951 to 75 per cent in 2010. Since 2002 there have been more households with access to two or more cars/vans than without any access at all.
The average annual mileage of four-wheeled cars has decreased from 9,700 miles in 1995/97 to 8,430 in 2010.
The number of car practical driving tests taken rose to by 3.6 per cent from 1.59 million in 2009/10 to 1.65 million in 2010/11. Roughly 51 to 54 per cent of the tests each year were taken by males.

Table number	Table name	Alternative number
TSGB0901	Licensed vehicles by tax class, Great Britain, annually from 1909	VEH0103
TSGB0902	Vehicles registered for the first time by tax class, Great Britain, annually from 1954	VEH0153
TSGB0903	Licensed vehicles by body type, Great Britain, annually from 1994	VEH0102
TSGB0904	Vehicles registered for the first time by body type, Great Britain, annually from 2001	VEH0152
TSGB0905	Licensed cars by propulsion/fuel type, Great Britain, annually from 2000	VEH0203
TSGB0906	Licensed cars, by region, Great Britain, annually from 2000	VEH0204
TSGB0907	Licensed heavy goods vehicles by weight (tonnes), Great Britain, annually from 2000	VEH0506
TSGB0908	Road vehicle testing scheme (MOT) test results, Great Britain, annually from 2000/01	–
TSGB0909	Road vehicle testing scheme (MOT): percentage of vehicles failing by type of defect, Great Britain, annually from 2007/08	–
TSGB0910	Road passenger service vehicle testing scheme (PSV tests), Great Britain, annually from 1999/00	–
TSGB0911	Goods vehicles over 3.5 tonnes testing scheme (HGV Motor vehicles and Trailers), Great Britain, annually from 1999/00	–
TSGB0912	Trailer tests by axle type, Great Britain, annually from 1999/00	–
TSGB0913	Household car availability, Great Britain, from 1951	NTS0205
TSGB0914	Household car ownership by region and area type, Great Britain, from 1995/97	NTS9902
TSGB0915	Full car driving licence holders by age and gender: Great Britain, from 1975/76	NTS0201
TSGB0916	Annual mileage of 4-wheeled cars by type and trip purpose: Great Britain, from 1995/97	NTS0901
TSGB0917	Car driving tests, Great Britain, annually from 1999/00	–

Technical information

Full guidance on the methods used to compile these statistics and their sources can be found in the Transport Statistics Great Britain 2011 Notes and Definitions: