Car statistics

Cupra car statistics

How many Cupra cars are on the road in Great Britain, every Cupra model, its share of new cars over time and which fuels they use, how they do at the MOT and their safety recalls. Built from DVLA licensing records and DVSA MOT results.

Last updated
Records analysed
37,339,879 car records (licensed and SORN)
Methodology
View methodology
  • Licensed in Great Britain 125,229 +48.7% on a year earlier
  • Rank among makes No. 30 0.37% of licensed cars
  • MOT first-time pass rate, 2025 89.2% Cars of the same ages 88.8%
  • New registrations in 2025 40,903 2.0% of all new cars
  • Most common fuel Petrol 33.9% of those licensed
  • Safety recalls since 1992 14 naming 5 Cupra models

How many Cupra cars are on the road?

There were 125,229 Cupra cars licensed in Great Britain at the end of March 2026, and a further 906 declared off the road (SORN). That is 0.37% of all licensed cars, or about 1 in 268, making Cupra the No. 30 make on the road. That is the most on the road at any year end since 2020. Electric makes up 29.9% of licensed Cupra cars, against 5.5% of all cars.

Cupra cars licensed in Great Britain

Numbers are still rising: the latest count is the highest in this series.

Cupra cars licensed in Great Britain at the end of each year
Year Licensed
2020 161
2021 7,571
2022 21,661
2023 46,314
2024 75,014
2025 114,069
2026 125,229

Source:DfT / DVLA End of March 2026 Updated

Fuel type

Cupra cars

All cars in Great Britain

Source:DfT / DVLA End of March 2026 Updated

Cupra models

6 Cupra models have a page of their own. The most common is the Cupra Formentor, with 54,817 licensed: 43.8% of all Cupra cars on the road. The totals above also count models too small for a page of their own.

Cupra models with their own page, most licensed first
Model Licensed Change on a year SORN Main fuel MOT pass rate
Formentor 54,817 +25.5% 322 Petrol 89.3%
Born 29,081 +39.4% 121 Electric 90.5%
Leon 16,879 +42.1% 143 Petrol 84.6%
Terramar 10,526 +967.5% 162 Hybrid
Tavascan 8,342 +334.3% 128 Electric
Ateca 5,579 +14.0% 30 Petrol

MOT pass rates are first-time passes of cars aged three and over in 2025. A dash means too few tests, or a model DVSA’s records do not separate from vans.

New Cupra cars registered each year

Registrations of new Cupra cars in Great Britain peaked at 40,903 in 2025. In 2025, 40,903 were registered for the first time: 2.0% of all new cars.

Registered for the first time, by year

Cupra cars registered for the first time in Great Britain, by year
Year First registrations
’20 162
’21 7,578
’22 14,415
’23 25,729
’24 30,314
’25 40,903

Source:DfT / DVLA 2001 to 2025 Updated

Share of all new cars

Cupra’s first registrations as a share of every car registered for the first time in Great Britain that year.

Cupra share of all new cars registered in Great Britain, by year
Year Share of new cars
2020 0.0%
2021 0.5%
2022 0.9%
2023 1.4%
2024 1.6%
2025 2.0%

Source:DfT / DVLA 2001 to 2025 Updated

Cupra MOT reliability

In 2025, 89.2% of MOT tests of Cupra cars were passed first time, from 22,562 tests. Cars of the same ages pass 88.8% of the time, so Cupra does about as well as average for the age of its cars. That ranks Cupra No. 29 of the 50 makes with enough tests to compare. 4.4% of Cupra tests found at least one dangerous defect, against 7.3% for all cars.

Among Cupra models with enough tests, the Born does best for its age (+1.1 points against cars of the same ages) and the Leon does worst (−3.8 points). Average age at test for Cupra cars: 3.4 years.

Cupra models by MOT pass rate against cars of the same ages, 2025
Model Tests Pass rate Same ages Difference
Born 4,600 90.5% 89.4% +1.1 pts
Formentor 15,450 89.3% 88.6% +0.7 pts
Leon 1,591 84.6% 88.4% −3.8 pts

Every make and model ranked by MOT pass rate

Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis 2025 Updated

Cupra safety recalls

DVSA lists 14 safety recalls naming a Cupra car model since 1992, across 5 models. 10 were launched from 2016 to 2025, ranking Cupra No. 41 of the makes with recalls in those years. A recall naming several Cupra models counts once.

Recalls launched each year, 2020 to 2025

Safety recalls naming a Cupra car model, by year launched
Year Recalls
’20 1
’21 2
’22 3
’23 3
’24 1
’25 0

Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis January 1992 to September 2026 Updated

Models with the most recalls

Cupra models with the most safety recalls since 1992
Model Recalls
Cupra Formentor 10
Cupra Born 2
Cupra Leon 1
Cupra Tavascan 1
Cupra Terramar 1

Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis January 1992 to September 2026 Updated

Models mostly registered as vans are left out, as on our recalls hub. A recall applies to vehicles built on particular dates or with particular VINs, not to every Cupra. To check a specific car, use GOV.UK’s vehicle recall check. How we match recalls to models.

Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis January 1992 to September 2026 Updated

Makes of a similar size

Cupra compared with makes of a similar size
Rank Make Licensed Change on a year Main fuel MOT vs same ages
27 Porsche 229,611 +5.1% Petrol +15.2 pts
28 Lexus 205,121 +4.8% Hybrid +10.5 pts
29 Mitsubishi 165,239 −6.1% Petrol +0.5 pts
30 Cupra 125,229 +48.7% Petrol +0.4 pts
31 Jeep 90,483 +6.7% Petrol −2.7 pts
32 Smart 85,932 −1.6% Petrol +1.6 pts
33 BYD 78,331 +316.7% Electric

Data sources and methodology

Datasets used on this page
Figures Source Period Records Updated
Licensed and SORN counts Vehicle licensing statistics Department for Transport End of March 2026 37,339,879 car records (licensed and SORN) 15 September 2026
Registered for the first time Vehicle licensing statistics Department for Transport 2001 to 2025 15 September 2026
MOT results Anonymised MOT tests and results Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
Derived statistics UK Motoring
2025 29,122,953 car MOT tests 15 September 2026
Safety recalls Vehicle safety recalls Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency
Derived statistics UK Motoring
January 1992 to September 2026 7,495 road vehicle recalls (R/) 15 September 2026
  • Figures cover Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales). Northern Ireland is not included.
  • Make totals count every car DVLA records under the make, including models too small for a page of their own. The rank is among all 525 makes on the record.
  • Licensed counts are vehicles with a current tax or exemption at the end of each year (or the latest quarter). SORN counts are shown separately.
  • First registrations count cars registered in Great Britain for the first time, including used imports.
  • MOT figures cover normal tests of cars aged three and over; retests are excluded. The same-ages figure is what all cars would score with this make’s mix of ages.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.