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Ford car statistics

How many Ford cars are on the road in Great Britain, every Ford 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 3,636,157 −2.6% on a year earlier
  • Rank among makes No. 1 10.8% of licensed cars
  • MOT first-time pass rate, 2025 68.8% Cars of the same ages 71.2%
  • New registrations in 2025 116,998 5.8% of all new cars
  • Most common fuel Petrol 64.4% of those licensed
  • Safety recalls since 1992 253 naming 26 Ford models

How many Ford cars are on the road?

There were 3,636,157 Ford cars licensed in Great Britain at the end of March 2026, and a further 416,877 declared off the road (SORN). That is 10.8% of all licensed cars, or about 1 in 9, making Ford the most common make on the road. That is 34.4% fewer than the 5,544,244 licensed in 1994, when this data begins. Petrol makes up 64.4% of licensed Ford cars, against 54.6% of all cars.

Ford cars licensed in Great Britain

The count was highest in 1994, when this data begins.

Ford cars licensed in Great Britain at the end of each year
Year Licensed
1994 5,544,244
1995 5,460,781
1996 5,529,218
1997 5,478,522
1998 5,347,236
1999 5,247,985
2000 5,100,300
2001 5,032,496
2002 4,924,915
2003 4,773,472
2004 4,689,284
2005 4,577,107
2006 4,451,143
2007 4,412,740
2008 4,386,965
2009 4,362,588
2010 4,342,174
2011 4,311,924
2012 4,316,458
2013 4,325,238
2014 4,301,413
2015 4,308,924
2016 4,323,023
2017 4,272,050
2018 4,213,898
2019 4,167,505
2020 4,061,069
2021 3,964,251
2022 3,904,284
2023 3,852,287
2024 3,750,563
2025 3,666,726
2026 3,636,157

Source:DfT / DVLA End of March 2026 Updated

Fuel type

Ford cars

All cars in Great Britain

Source:DfT / DVLA End of March 2026 Updated

Ford models

50 Ford models have a page of their own. The most common is the Ford Fiesta, with 1,249,904 licensed: 34.4% of all Ford cars on the road. Over the last year the Puma added the most cars on the road (+52,935, +27.6%) and the Fiesta lost the most (−68,560, −5.2%). The totals above also count models too small for a page of their own.

Ford models with their own page, most licensed first
Model Licensed Change on a year SORN Main fuel MOT pass rate
Fiesta 1,249,904 −5.2% 111,058 Petrol 65.6%
Focus 857,445 −6.6% 100,497 Petrol 67.8%
Kuga 367,678 +3.9% 7,528 Diesel 79.4%
Puma 244,729 +27.6% 6,445 Hybrid 91.0%
Ka 152,598 −6.1% 27,773 Petrol 66.3%
Mondeo 150,063 −11.7% 49,062 Diesel 67.2%
Ecosport 106,973 −1.6% 1,079 Petrol 77.1%
C-Max 97,597 −6.5% 3,842 Diesel 67.8%
S-Max 60,715 −8.9% 4,732 Diesel 64.6%
Tourneo 55,530 +12.9% 1,227 Diesel 75.7%
B-Max 50,839 −1.9% 865 Petrol 67.9%
Galaxy 47,009 −10.4% 12,368 Diesel 64.3%
Fusion 40,463 −12.6% 5,604 Petrol 57.8%
Grand C-Max 31,839 −4.9% 1,182 Diesel 65.2%
Explorer EV 18,931 +159.0% 58 Electric –
Mustang Mach-E 14,804 +6.2% 227 Electric 89.6%
Escort 12,342 +0.3% 34,179 Petrol –
Mustang 12,004 +3.6% 2,261 Petrol 83.8%
Edge 8,276 −1.3% 73 Diesel 83.8%
Capri EV 6,523 +372.7% 56 Electric –
Cortina 4,762 −0.1% 3,425 Petrol –
Transit Custom 4,453 +18.2% 216 Diesel –
Capri 3,850 +10.0% 6,461 Petrol 83.2%
Independence 3,371 −2.8% 44 Diesel –
Anglia 2,512 −0.4% 1,401 Petrol –
Transit 2,049 +0.6% 378 Diesel –
Popular 1,897 −1.8% 959 Petrol –
Sierra 1,719 +6.7% 10,521 Petrol 88.3%
Freedom 1,264 −0.6% 27 Diesel 77.2%
Granada 1,221 +5.8% 3,190 Petrol –
Consul 1,073 −1.8% 551 Petrol –
Streetka 1,009 −25.1% 2,265 Petrol –
Prefect 916 −2.6% 518 Petrol –
Zephyr 891 +0.1% 404 Petrol –
Allied 827 −0.1% 24 Diesel –
Zodiac 774 −1.0% 338 Petrol –
Corsair 395 −1.7% 234 Petrol –
Cougar 269 −16.5% 1,149 Petrol –
Thunderbird 251 +1.2% 93 Petrol –
Orion 212 +1.9% 1,413 Petrol –
Explorer 210 +6.1% 697 Petrol –
Probe 201 −1.5% 855 Petrol –
Maverick 193 −22.8% 1,576 Petrol –
Journey 189 −2.6% 14 Diesel –
Classic 187 −2.1% 110 Petrol –
Dorchester 152 −14.6% 196 Petrol –
Transit Connect 133 −2.9% 7 Diesel –
Cardinal Hearse 126 −12.5% 159 Petrol –
Transit Courier 108 +3.8% 4 Diesel –
Coleman Milne 101 +42.3% 0 Electric –

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 Ford cars registered each year

Registrations of new Ford cars in Great Britain were highest at 424,263 in 2001, when this data begins. In 2025, 116,998 were registered for the first time: 5.8% of all new cars, against 16.4% in 2001, Ford’s best year for share of new cars.

Registered for the first time, by year

Ford cars registered for the first time in Great Britain, by year
Year First registrations
’01 424,263
’02 415,596
’03 384,105
’04 366,327
’05 342,386
’06 339,606
’07 344,587
’08 317,224
’09 310,796
’10 276,154
’11 261,389
’12 277,908
’13 304,189
’14 320,898
’15 330,082
’16 314,693
’17 282,332
’18 250,339
’19 232,896
’20 150,351
’21 114,537
’22 124,530
’23 140,906
’24 108,130
’25 116,998

Source:DfT / DVLA 2001 to 2025 Updated

Share of all new cars

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

Ford share of all new cars registered in Great Britain, by year
Year Share of new cars
2001 16.4%
2002 15.5%
2003 14.5%
2004 14.1%
2005 14.0%
2006 14.5%
2007 14.4%
2008 15.0%
2009 15.8%
2010 13.8%
2011 13.7%
2012 13.8%
2013 13.7%
2014 13.2%
2015 12.7%
2016 11.8%
2017 11.3%
2018 10.7%
2019 10.1%
2020 9.3%
2021 7.0%
2022 7.7%
2023 7.4%
2024 5.5%
2025 5.8%

Source:DfT / DVLA 2001 to 2025 Updated

Ford MOT reliability

In 2025, 68.8% of MOT tests of Ford cars were passed first time, from 3,558,832 tests. Cars of the same ages pass 71.2% of the time, so Ford does worse than average for the age of its cars, by 2.4 points. That ranks Ford No. 38 of the 50 makes with enough tests to compare. 8.2% of Ford tests found at least one dangerous defect, against 7.3% for all cars.

Among Ford models with enough tests, the Sierra does best for its age (+27.3 points against cars of the same ages) and the Grand C-Max does worst (−6.3 points). Average age at test for Ford cars: 11.1 years.

Ford models by MOT pass rate against cars of the same ages, 2025
Model Tests Pass rate Same ages Difference
Sierra 2,592 88.3% 61.0% +27.3 pts
Capri 1,963 83.2% 61.0% +22.2 pts
Mustang 12,707 83.8% 77.0% +6.8 pts
Edge 8,909 83.8% 77.9% +5.9 pts
Puma 92,287 91.0% 87.7% +3.3 pts
Kuga 311,435 79.4% 77.5% +1.9 pts
Mustang Mach-E 7,064 89.6% 88.7% +0.9 pts
Mondeo 172,058 67.2% 67.2% 0.0 pts
C-Max 105,823 67.8% 68.1% −0.3 pts
Fusion 46,353 57.8% 59.2% −1.4 pts
Ka 169,345 66.3% 67.8% −1.5 pts
Focus 896,838 67.8% 69.8% −2.0 pts
B-Max 53,643 67.9% 70.1% −2.2 pts
Freedom 1,459 77.2% 79.7% −2.5 pts
S-Max 67,926 64.6% 67.8% −3.2 pts
Ecosport 111,522 77.1% 81.3% −4.2 pts
Fiesta 1,359,897 65.6% 70.0% −4.4 pts
Galaxy 55,001 64.3% 69.5% −5.2 pts
Tourneo 42,599 75.7% 81.4% −5.7 pts
Grand C-Max 34,571 65.2% 71.5% −6.3 pts

Every make and model ranked by MOT pass rate

Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis 2025 Updated

Ford safety recalls

DVSA lists 253 safety recalls naming a Ford car model since 1992, across 26 models. 124 were launched from 2016 to 2025, ranking Ford No. 6 of the makes with recalls in those years. A recall naming several Ford models counts once.

Recalls launched each year, 2006 to 2025

Safety recalls naming a Ford car model, by year launched
Year Recalls
’06 4
’07 5
’08 4
’09 7
’10 4
’11 4
’12 3
’13 1
’14 2
’15 5
’16 7
’17 6
’18 12
’19 8
’20 12
’21 10
’22 18
’23 12
’24 18
’25 21

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

Models with the most recalls

Ford models with the most safety recalls since 1992
Model Recalls
Ford Focus 59
Ford Kuga 39
Ford Fiesta 31
Ford Mondeo 31
Ford Galaxy 30
Ford S-Max 23
Ford Tourneo 22
Ford Mustang 21
Ford Puma 19
Ford C-Max 18

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

Latest Ford recalls

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 Ford. 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

Ford compared with makes of a similar size
Rank Make Licensed Change on a year Main fuel MOT vs same ages
1 Ford 3,636,157 −2.6% Petrol −2.4 pts
2 Volkswagen 2,919,033 +1.4% Petrol +1.6 pts
3 Vauxhall 2,514,958 −4.5% Petrol −5.0 pts
4 BMW 2,049,837 +1.3% Diesel +5.6 pts

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.
How we calculate these figures All data sources

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