Cars on UK roads

How many Kia Picanto cars are on UK roads?

219,477 Kia Picanto cars were licensed in Great Britain at the end of June 2026, with another 6,225 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT and DVLA licensing statistics. That is up 2.8% on a year earlier and 16.9% of all licensed Kia cars, making it number 2 of the 14 Kia models listed here and number 35 of 408 models nationally.

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

Licensed in GB: 219,477; end of June 2026, DfT VEH0120
Change in a year: +2.8%; all cars: +1.5%
Typical year of first use: 2017; median, UK, 31 Dec 2025 (all cars: 2016)

What the numbers say about the Kia Picanto

The number of Kia Picantos on the road is up 2.8% on a year earlier, ahead of the +1.5% for all cars and behind Kia as a whole (+6.1%). That is the highest quarter-end figure in the series, which starts in June 2016.

12,990 Kia Picantos were first registered in the UK from July 2025 to June 2026, 100% of them petrol.

100% of licensed Kia Picantos are petrol, against 54% of all cars. There are almost no electric or plug-in versions on the road.

43% of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2015 or earlier (all cars: 44%), and 2.8% of registered Kia Picantos are SORN against 9.9% of all cars.

Of the 14,217 Kia Picantos first registered in 2015, 94% were still licensed at the end of 2025, against 86% of all cars first registered that year (73 Auto analysis; see the table below).

Kia Picantos 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 219,477 at the end of June 2026, the latest quarter, so numbers are still at their highest.

Kia Picantos licensed in Great Britain at the end of each June
Quarter end	Licensed	Change on a year earlier
June 2026	219,477	+2.8%
June 2025	213,532	+3.3%
June 2024	206,722	+3.2%
June 2023	200,346	+3.9%
June 2022	192,906	+3.6%
June 2021	186,137	+2.9%
June 2020	180,881	+3.4%
June 2019	174,976	+8.4%
June 2018	161,389	+6.5%
June 2017	151,547	+8.0%
June 2016	140,291	—

Kia Picantos by fuel type

Kia Picantos licensed in Great Britain by fuel type, end of June 2026
Fuel (DfT category)	Licensed	Share	All cars
Petrol	219,470	100.0%	54.3%

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

How old Kia Picantos 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 (220,087 licensed) differs from the quarterly Great Britain figure.

Kia Picantos by year of first use, UK, 31 December 2025
First used	Licensed	Share of licensed	SORN
2025	13,371	6.1%	82
2024	11,107	5.1%	65
2023	13,476	6.1%	97
2022	9,764	4.4%	60
2021	10,637	4.8%	70
2020	8,747	4.0%	43
2019	17,128	7.8%	131
2018	15,929	7.2%	139
2017	12,953	5.9%	134
2016	12,359	5.6%	123
2015	13,294	6.0%	150
2014	13,907	6.3%	256
2013	12,033	5.5%	311
2012	12,322	5.6%	360
2011	9,623	4.4%	394
2010	11,639	5.3%	603
2009	11,160	5.1%	656
2008	2,536	1.1%	271
2007	1,875	0.9%	377
2006	2,571	1.2%	768
2005 and earlier	3,656	1.7%	1,354

How many Kia Picantos 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.

Kia Picantos first registered each year and still licensed at 31 December 2025
Year	First registered	Licensed end 2025	Still licensed	All cars
2024	11,384	11,107	97.6%	93.9%
2023	14,031	13,476	96.0%	93.5%
2022	10,371	9,764	94.2%	90.4%
2021	11,015	10,637	96.6%	91.6%
2020	9,057	8,747	96.6%	91.8%
2019	17,823	17,128	96.1%	91.3%
2018	16,739	15,929	95.2%	90.0%
2017	13,752	12,953	94.2%	88.8%
2016	13,023	12,359	94.9%	87.6%
2015	14,217	13,294	93.5%	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): 12,990.

Other Kia models on UK roads

Kia models licensed in Great Britain, end of June 2026
Model	Licensed	Share of Kia	Change in a year
Kia Sportage	423,429	32.6%	+10.3%
Kia Ceed	179,539	13.8%	−2.3%
Kia Niro	135,296	10.4%	+7.8%
Kia Rio	93,670	7.2%	−4.3%
Kia Stonic	57,284	4.4%	+15.3%
Kia Venga	43,623	3.4%	−2.5%
Kia Sorento	38,926	3.0%	−1.6%
Kia Soul	23,210	1.8%	−3.6%
Kia EV6	19,497	1.5%	+8.2%
Kia EV3	17,854	1.4%	+147.4%
Kia Carens	11,846	0.9%	−7.8%
Kia Optima	9,761	0.8%	−3.7%

Limitations

Licensed means taxed or tax-exempt and allowed on the road at the quarter end; SORN cars are registered but declared off the road. DfT groups cars by its own “generic model” (KIA PICANTO), which 73 Auto maps to the Kia Picanto as named in our list-price catalogue; body styles and derivatives sold under that name are included. The Great Britain quarterly figures and the UK annual age table are separate official tables, so their totals differ slightly.

Check a specific Kia Picanto before you buy

Enter the registration to see that Kia Picanto's own MOT history, tax status and what it will cost to run. Your first check is free and shows the vehicle summary and its headline ownership cost. The category-by-category breakdown is part of a paid check.

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.