Cars on UK roads
How many Mercedes-Benz SL cars are on UK roads?
15,428 Mercedes-Benz SL cars were licensed in Great Britain at the end of June 2026, with another 5,870 declared off the road (SORN), according to DfT and DVLA licensing statistics. That is down 3.8% on a year earlier and 0.9% of all licensed Mercedes-Benz cars, making it number 17 of the 21 Mercedes-Benz models listed here and number 278 of 408 models nationally.
Data to 2026-06-30 · Page updated 2026-09-28 · Publisher: 73 Auto
- Licensed in GB
- 15,428
- end of June 2026, DfT VEH0120
- Change in a year
- −3.8%
- all cars: +1.5%
- Typical year of first use
- 2006
- median, UK, 31 Dec 2025 (all cars: 2016)
What the numbers say about the Mercedes-Benz SL
The number of Mercedes-Benz SLs on the road is down 3.8% on a year earlier, behind the +1.5% for all cars and behind Mercedes-Benz as a whole (+1.1%). It peaked at 19,905 at the end of June 2017 and has fallen 22.5% since.
Only 17 were first registered in the UK from July 2025 to June 2026, so the Mercedes-Benz SL is effectively no longer sold new here: the number on the road can only shrink as cars are scrapped, exported or taken off the road.
100% of licensed Mercedes-Benz SLs are petrol, against 54% of all cars. There are almost no electric or plug-in versions on the road.
86% of those licensed at the end of 2025 were first used in 2015 or earlier (all cars: 44%), and 27.6% of registered Mercedes-Benz SLs are SORN against 9.9% of all cars, a sign of cars kept off the road as projects, second cars or awaiting repair.
Mercedes-Benz SLs 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 19,905 at the end of June 2017.
| Quarter end | Licensed | Change on a year earlier |
|---|---|---|
| June 2026 | 15,428 | −3.8% |
| June 2025 | 16,034 | −2.5% |
| June 2024 | 16,446 | −5.8% |
| June 2023 | 17,451 | −2.8% |
| June 2022 | 17,958 | −3.3% |
| June 2021 | 18,570 | +2.1% |
| June 2020 | 18,189 | −6.4% |
| June 2019 | 19,436 | −0.8% |
| June 2018 | 19,598 | −1.5% |
| June 2017 | 19,905 | +1.3% |
| June 2016 | 19,656 | — |
Mercedes-Benz SLs by fuel type
| Fuel (DfT category) | Licensed | Share | All cars |
|---|---|---|---|
| Petrol | 15,419 | 99.9% | 54.3% |
How old Mercedes-Benz SLs 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 (14,182 licensed) differs from the quarterly Great Britain figure.
| First used | Licensed | Share of licensed | SORN |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 30 | 0.2% | 0 |
| 2020 | 198 | 1.4% | 13 |
| 2019 | 332 | 2.3% | 9 |
| 2018 | 335 | 2.4% | 20 |
| 2017 | 519 | 3.7% | 22 |
| 2016 | 633 | 4.5% | 41 |
| 2015 | 695 | 4.9% | 70 |
| 2014 | 953 | 6.7% | 91 |
| 2013 | 989 | 7.0% | 136 |
| 2012 | 370 | 2.6% | 57 |
| 2011 | 189 | 1.3% | 50 |
| 2010 | 278 | 2.0% | 76 |
| 2009 | 357 | 2.5% | 130 |
| 2008 | 542 | 3.8% | 257 |
| 2007 | 534 | 3.8% | 276 |
| 2006 | 540 | 3.8% | 312 |
| 2005 and earlier | 6,688 | 47.1% | 6,175 |
Other Mercedes-Benz models on UK roads
| Model | Licensed | Share of Mercedes-Benz | Change in a year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mercedes-Benz A-Class | 379,276 | 21.7% | +0.5% |
| Mercedes-Benz C-Class | 322,420 | 18.4% | −4.5% |
| Mercedes-Benz E-Class | 201,971 | 11.6% | −4.2% |
| Mercedes-Benz CLA | 117,137 | 6.7% | +15.2% |
| Mercedes-Benz GLA | 113,728 | 6.5% | +7.2% |
| Mercedes-Benz GLC | 100,136 | 5.7% | +9.3% |
| Mercedes-Benz B-Class | 66,044 | 3.8% | −4.2% |
| Mercedes-Benz GLE | 63,055 | 3.6% | −2.2% |
| Mercedes-Benz SLK | 55,236 | 3.2% | −4.6% |
| Mercedes-Benz EQA | 36,423 | 2.1% | +16.1% |
| Mercedes-Benz GLB | 24,920 | 1.4% | +16.0% |
| Mercedes-Benz EQB | 22,128 | 1.3% | +22.2% |
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” (MERCEDES SL CLASS, MERCEDES-BENZ SL CLASS), which 73 Auto maps to the Mercedes-Benz SL 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 Mercedes-Benz SL before you buy
Enter the registration to see that Mercedes-Benz SL'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.