Cars on UK roads

DS cars on UK roads

47,483 DS cars were licensed in Great Britain at the end of June 2026 (DfT and DVLA licensing statistics), 0.1% of all licensed cars and number 38 of the 47 makes listed here. That is down 2.0% on a year earlier; the DS DS 3 is the most common, with 34,568 (72.8%).

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Data to 2026-06-30 · Page updated 2026-09-28 · Publisher: 73 Auto

Licensed in GB: 47,483; end of June 2026
Change in a year: −2.0%; all cars: +1.5%
First registered, last 12 months: 180; UK, July 2025 to June 2026

DS models on UK roads

Official counts for every DS model with at least 5,000 licensed cars; together they cover 96.9% of licensed DSs. Shares and changes are 73 Auto calculations.

DS models licensed in Great Britain, end of June 2026
Model	Licensed	Share of DS	Change in a year	Typical year first used
DS 3	34,568	72.8%	−2.0%	2017
DS4	6,205	13.1%	−3.8%	2017
DS 7	5,225	11.0%	−1.5%	2020

How the DS fleet is changing

8.2% of licensed DSs are battery electric, plug-in hybrid or range-extended, against 8.8% of all cars. Half of the DSs licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2017 or earlier (all cars: 2016). Over five years the number licensed is up 14.8%.

DS cars licensed, year by year

Official data: cars licensed (taxed, or exempt and on the road) in Great Britain at the end of each June. The peak in this series was 48,455 at the end of June 2025.

DS cars licensed in Great Britain at the end of each June
Quarter end	Licensed	Change on a year earlier
June 2026	47,483	−2.0%
June 2025	48,455	+0.5%
June 2024	48,207	+1.8%
June 2023	47,371	+6.7%
June 2022	44,380	+7.3%
June 2021	41,356	+5.2%
June 2020	39,296	+7.9%
June 2019	36,415	+6.9%
June 2018	34,062	+24.6%
June 2017	27,330	+60.7%
June 2016	17,011	—

DS cars by fuel type

DS cars licensed in Great Britain by fuel type, end of June 2026
Fuel (DfT category)	Licensed	Share	All cars
Petrol	27,764	58.5%	54.3%
Diesel	15,554	32.8%	27.5%
Battery electric	2,117	4.5%	5.9%
Plug-in hybrid electric (petrol)	1,766	3.7%	2.9%
Hybrid electric (petrol)	260	0.5%	9.0%
Hybrid electric (diesel)	22	0.1%	0.3%

Official data, end of June 2026. Fuel types with fewer than 10 cars are not listed.

How old DS cars on the road are

Official data from DfT table VEH0124: cars licensed and SORN at 31 December 2025 in the whole UK, by the year the car was first used (for a car imported used, that is its first use abroad). This table is annual and UK-wide, so its total (50,182 licensed) differs from the quarterly Great Britain figure.

DS cars by year of first use, UK, 31 December 2025
First used	Licensed	Share of licensed	SORN
2025	970	1.9%	20
2024	1,080	2.1%	16
2023	2,284	4.5%	20
2022	3,333	6.6%	41
2021	2,168	4.3%	19
2020	2,214	4.4%	28
2019	3,900	7.8%	65
2018	4,688	9.3%	104
2017	8,144	16.2%	201
2016	13,970	27.8%	390
2015	7,400	14.8%	260
2005 and earlier	31	0.1%	2

How many DS cars are still on the road

73 Auto analysis of two official tables: cars first registered in the UK each year (VEH0160) and cars of that year of first use still licensed at 31 December 2025 (VEH0124). The ratio is an indication, not a tracked cohort: imported used cars and cars exported, scrapped or declared off the road all move the figure, and years where the ratio exceeded 100% or fewer than 1,000 cars were registered are left out.

DS cars first registered each year and still licensed at 31 December 2025
Year	First registered	Licensed end 2025	Still licensed	All cars
2024	1,155	1,080	93.5%	93.9%
2023	2,399	2,284	95.2%	93.5%
2022	3,697	3,333	90.1%	90.4%
2021	2,364	2,168	91.7%	91.6%
2020	2,390	2,214	92.6%	91.8%
2019	4,234	3,900	92.1%	91.3%
2018	5,161	4,688	90.8%	90.0%
2017	9,066	8,144	89.8%	88.8%
2016	15,890	13,970	87.9%	87.6%
2015	8,614	7,400	85.9%	86.0%

First registrations: UK, calendar years. Licensed: UK, 31 December 2025. Cars first registered in the last 12 months (July 2025 to June 2026): 180.

Limitations

Make totals include every car DfT records under DS, including models below the 5,000-car threshold and cars whose model DfT does not know. Licensed means taxed or tax-exempt at the quarter end; SORN cars are excluded from the licensed count.

Looking at a used DS? Check that exact car

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UK number plate or 17-character VIN

Where these figures come from

Vehicle licensing statistics data files: VEH0120 (GB), VEH0124 and VEH0160 (UK) — Department for Transport and DVLA. Open Government Licence v3.0.
Shares, changes, rankings and the still-licensed indication (73 Auto analysis of the DfT files) — 73 Auto. Derived figures.

Figures labelled as 73 Auto estimates are our own analysis of these sources, set out in the methodology and data sources. To report a factual error, see corrections.