Car statistics
Saab car statistics
How many Saab cars are on the road in Great Britain, every Saab 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.
- Licensed in Great Britain 34,812 −14.1% on a year earlier
- Rank among makes No. 40 0.10% of licensed cars
- MOT first-time pass rate, 2025 63.9% Cars of the same ages 59.5%
- New registrations in 2025 12 0.0% of all new cars
- Most common fuel Petrol 61.7% of those licensed
- Safety recalls since 1992 25 naming 4 Saab models
How many Saab cars are on the road?
There were 34,812 Saab cars licensed in Great Britain at the end of March 2026, and a further 27,500 declared off the road (SORN). That is 0.10% of all licensed cars, or about 1 in 964, making Saab the No. 40 make on the road. That is 84.8% fewer than the peak of 228,590 in 2007. Diesel makes up 37.8% of licensed Saab cars, against 28.1% of all cars.
Saab cars licensed in Great Britain
The highest year-end count was 228,590 in 2007.
| Year | Licensed |
|---|---|
| 1994 | 121,879 |
| 1995 | 126,416 |
| 1996 | 137,100 |
| 1997 | 146,834 |
| 1998 | 159,927 |
| 1999 | 169,893 |
| 2000 | 176,586 |
| 2001 | 182,418 |
| 2002 | 185,758 |
| 2003 | 187,909 |
| 2004 | 196,448 |
| 2005 | 210,888 |
| 2006 | 220,421 |
| 2007 | 228,590 |
| 2008 | 228,110 |
| 2009 | 224,356 |
| 2010 | 217,139 |
| 2011 | 205,388 |
| 2012 | 192,097 |
| 2013 | 177,201 |
| 2014 | 162,051 |
| 2015 | 148,414 |
| 2016 | 134,304 |
| 2017 | 118,824 |
| 2018 | 103,590 |
| 2019 | 89,147 |
| 2020 | 77,429 |
| 2021 | 66,927 |
| 2022 | 58,334 |
| 2023 | 50,154 |
| 2024 | 42,354 |
| 2025 | 36,395 |
| 2026 | 34,812 |
Source:DfT / DVLA End of March 2026 Updated
Fuel type
Saab cars
All cars in Great Britain
Source:DfT / DVLA End of March 2026 Updated
Saab models
6 Saab models have a page of their own. The most common is the Saab 9-3, with 26,195 licensed: 75.2% of all Saab cars on the road. The totals above also count models too small for a page of their own.
| Model | Licensed | Change on a year | SORN | Main fuel | MOT pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9-3 | 26,195 | −15.0% | 15,998 | Petrol | 63.6% |
| 9-5 | 5,623 | −13.8% | 4,493 | Petrol | 65.6% |
| 900 | 1,540 | −7.7% | 4,283 | Petrol | 63.4% |
| 9000 | 399 | −11.3% | 1,561 | Petrol | – |
| 96 | 370 | −2.6% | 270 | Petrol | – |
| 99 | 215 | +7.5% | 287 | 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 Saab cars registered each year
Registrations of new Saab cars in Great Britain peaked at 27,505 in 2005. In 2025, 12 were registered for the first time: 0.0% of all new cars, against 1.2% in 2006, Saab’s best year for share of new cars.
Registered for the first time, by year
| Year | First registrations |
|---|---|
| ’01 | 16,723 |
| ’02 | 14,940 |
| ’03 | 14,884 |
| ’04 | 20,455 |
| ’05 | 27,505 |
| ’06 | 26,918 |
| ’07 | 23,531 |
| ’08 | 15,917 |
| ’09 | 7,427 |
| ’10 | 5,911 |
| ’11 | 4,144 |
| ’12 | 306 |
| ’13 | 70 |
| ’14 | 41 |
| ’15 | 40 |
| ’16 | 39 |
| ’17 | 30 |
| ’18 | 25 |
| ’19 | 33 |
| ’20 | 29 |
| ’21 | 30 |
| ’22 | 22 |
| ’23 | 17 |
| ’24 | 19 |
| ’25 | 12 |
Source:DfT / DVLA 2001 to 2025 Updated
Share of all new cars
Saab’s first registrations as a share of every car registered for the first time in Great Britain that year.
| Year | Share of new cars |
|---|---|
| 2001 | 0.6% |
| 2002 | 0.6% |
| 2003 | 0.6% |
| 2004 | 0.8% |
| 2005 | 1.1% |
| 2006 | 1.2% |
| 2007 | 1.0% |
| 2008 | 0.8% |
| 2009 | 0.4% |
| 2010 | 0.3% |
| 2011 | 0.2% |
| 2012 | 0.0% |
| 2013 | 0.0% |
| 2014 | 0.0% |
| 2015 | 0.0% |
| 2016 | 0.0% |
| 2017 | 0.0% |
| 2018 | 0.0% |
| 2019 | 0.0% |
| 2020 | 0.0% |
| 2021 | 0.0% |
| 2022 | 0.0% |
| 2023 | 0.0% |
| 2024 | 0.0% |
| 2025 | 0.0% |
Source:DfT / DVLA 2001 to 2025 Updated
Saab MOT reliability
In 2025, 63.9% of MOT tests of Saab cars were passed first time, from 41,979 tests. Cars of the same ages pass 59.5% of the time, so Saab does better than average for the age of its cars, by 4.4 points. That ranks Saab No. 16 of the 50 makes with enough tests to compare. 8.9% of Saab tests found at least one dangerous defect, against 7.3% for all cars.
Among Saab models with enough tests, the 9-5 does best for its age (+6.0 points against cars of the same ages) and the 900 does worst (+2.4 points). Average age at test for Saab cars: 19.3 years.
Every make and model ranked by MOT pass rate
Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis 2025 Updated
Saab safety recalls
DVSA lists 25 safety recalls naming a Saab car model since 1992, across 4 models. 0 were launched from 2016 to 2025. A recall naming several Saab models counts once.
Recalls launched each year, 2006 to 2025
| Year | Recalls |
|---|---|
| ’06 | 2 |
| ’07 | 1 |
| ’08 | 0 |
| ’09 | 1 |
| ’10 | 2 |
| ’11 | 0 |
| ’12 | 0 |
| ’13 | 0 |
| ’14 | 0 |
| ’15 | 0 |
| ’16 | 0 |
| ’17 | 0 |
| ’18 | 0 |
| ’19 | 0 |
| ’20 | 0 |
| ’21 | 0 |
| ’22 | 0 |
| ’23 | 0 |
| ’24 | 0 |
| ’25 | 0 |
Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis January 1992 to September 2026 Updated
Models with the most recalls
| Model | Recalls |
|---|---|
| Saab 900 | 11 |
| Saab 9-3 | 10 |
| Saab 9-5 | 4 |
| Saab 9000 | 3 |
Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis January 1992 to September 2026 Updated
Latest Saab recalls
- 3 Dec 2010 Steering wheel airbag may not perform correctly in a collision Saab 9-5
- 3 Dec 2010 Right hand front seat may not lock correctly Saab 9-3
- 26 Jan 2009 Fuel may leak - fire may occur Saab 9-5
- 17 Dec 2007 Handbrake may fail Saab 9-3
- 17 May 2006 Reduced braking performance Saab 9-3
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 Saab. 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
| Rank | Make | Licensed | Change on a year | Main fuel | MOT vs same ages |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | DS | 47,661 | −0.7% | Petrol | −10.9 pts |
| 38 | Jaecoo | 46,868 | +1271.2% | Plug-in hybrid | – |
| 39 | Chevrolet | 40,488 | −16.4% | Petrol | −8.2 pts |
| 40 | Saab | 34,812 | −14.1% | Petrol | +4.4 pts |
| 41 | Omoda | 32,099 | +376.0% | Petrol | – |
| 42 | Triumph | 30,353 | −1.2% | Petrol | – |
| 43 | Abarth | 29,386 | −1.8% | Petrol | 0.0 pts |
Data sources and methodology
| 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.