Cars on UK roads

How many Kia Sorento cars are on UK roads?

38,926 Kia Sorento cars were licensed in Great Britain at the end of June 2026, with another 4,191 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT and DVLA licensing statistics. That is down 1.6% on a year earlier and 3.0% of all licensed Kia cars, making it number 8 of the 14 Kia models listed here and number 173 of 408 models nationally.

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

Licensed in GB: 38,926; end of June 2026, DfT VEH0120
Change in a year: −1.6%; 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 Sorento

The number of Kia Sorentos on the road is down 1.6% on a year earlier, behind the +1.5% for all cars and behind Kia as a whole (+6.1%). It peaked at 42,268 at the end of September 2019 and has fallen 7.9% since.

1,757 Kia Sorentos were first registered in the UK from July 2025 to June 2026, 44% of them diesel.

79% of licensed Kia Sorentos are diesel, against 27% of all cars. Electric and plug-in hybrid versions make up 6.2% (all cars: 8.8%).

41% of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2015 or earlier (all cars: 44%), and 9.7% of registered Kia Sorentos are SORN against 9.9% of all cars.

Of the 4,276 Kia Sorentos first registered in 2015, 89% 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 Sorentos 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 42,268 at the end of September 2019.

Kia Sorentos licensed in Great Britain at the end of each June
Quarter end	Licensed	Change on a year earlier
June 2026	38,926	−1.6%
June 2025	39,539	−0.5%
June 2024	39,726	−0.1%
June 2023	39,781	−0.9%
June 2022	40,143	−2.2%
June 2021	41,064	−0.3%
June 2020	41,183	−2.0%
June 2019	42,034	+0.6%
June 2018	41,782	+2.9%
June 2017	40,607	+5.2%
June 2016	38,600	—

Kia Sorentos by fuel type

Kia Sorentos licensed in Great Britain by fuel type, end of June 2026
Fuel (DfT category)	Licensed	Share	All cars
Diesel	30,579	78.6%	27.5%
Hybrid electric (petrol)	5,866	15.1%	9.0%
Plug-in hybrid electric (petrol)	2,413	6.2%	2.9%
Petrol	65	0.2%	54.3%

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

How old Kia Sorentos 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 (40,612 licensed) differs from the quarterly Great Britain figure.

Kia Sorentos by year of first use, UK, 31 December 2025
First used	Licensed	Share of licensed	SORN
2025	2,347	5.8%	18
2024	1,986	4.9%	5
2023	2,720	6.7%	9
2022	1,953	4.8%	13
2021	2,200	5.4%	17
2020	1,164	2.9%	6
2019	2,684	6.6%	18
2018	2,650	6.5%	18
2017	3,047	7.5%	27
2016	3,043	7.5%	40
2015	3,826	9.4%	83
2014	2,737	6.7%	73
2013	1,939	4.8%	82
2012	1,638	4.0%	109
2011	1,355	3.3%	142
2010	1,457	3.6%	218
2009	858	2.1%	263
2008	537	1.3%	273
2007	674	1.7%	440
2006	909	2.2%	760
2005 and earlier	888	2.2%	1,730

How many Kia Sorentos 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 Sorentos first registered each year and still licensed at 31 December 2025
Year	First registered	Licensed end 2025	Still licensed	All cars
2024	2,037	1,986	97.5%	93.9%
2023	2,817	2,720	96.6%	93.5%
2022	2,058	1,953	94.9%	90.4%
2021	2,311	2,200	95.2%	91.6%
2020	1,212	1,164	96.0%	91.8%
2019	2,885	2,684	93.0%	91.3%
2018	2,853	2,650	92.9%	90.0%
2017	3,266	3,047	93.3%	88.8%
2016	3,332	3,043	91.3%	87.6%
2015	4,276	3,826	89.5%	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): 1,757.

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 Picanto	219,477	16.9%	+2.8%
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 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 SORENTO), which 73 Auto maps to the Kia Sorento 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 Sorento before you buy

Enter the registration to see that Kia Sorento'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.