Car statistics
Smart car statistics
How many Smart cars are on the road in Great Britain, every Smart 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 85,932 −1.6% on a year earlier
- Rank among makes No. 32 0.26% of licensed cars
- MOT first-time pass rate, 2025 70.7% Cars of the same ages 69.1%
- New registrations in 2025 1,795 0.09% of all new cars
- Most common fuel Petrol 84.2% of those licensed
- Safety recalls since 1992 17 naming 5 Smart models
How many Smart cars are on the road?
There were 85,932 Smart cars licensed in Great Britain at the end of March 2026, and a further 11,045 declared off the road (SORN). That is 0.26% of all licensed cars, or about 1 in 390, making Smart the No. 32 make on the road. That is 10.7% fewer than the peak of 96,273 in 2019. Petrol makes up 84.2% of licensed Smart cars, against 54.6% of all cars.
Smart cars licensed in Great Britain
The highest year-end count was 96,273 in 2019.
| Year | Licensed |
|---|---|
| 2003 | 4,790 |
| 2004 | 15,203 |
| 2005 | 24,416 |
| 2006 | 31,317 |
| 2007 | 36,000 |
| 2008 | 43,218 |
| 2009 | 50,629 |
| 2010 | 56,937 |
| 2011 | 60,702 |
| 2012 | 64,932 |
| 2013 | 68,817 |
| 2014 | 69,712 |
| 2015 | 75,424 |
| 2016 | 84,094 |
| 2017 | 90,939 |
| 2018 | 95,091 |
| 2019 | 96,273 |
| 2020 | 93,657 |
| 2021 | 92,532 |
| 2022 | 91,623 |
| 2023 | 89,455 |
| 2024 | 87,945 |
| 2025 | 86,438 |
| 2026 | 85,932 |
Source:DfT / DVLA End of March 2026 Updated
Fuel type
Smart cars
All cars in Great Britain
Source:DfT / DVLA End of March 2026 Updated
Smart models
7 Smart models have a page of their own. The most common is the Smart Fortwo, with 52,344 licensed: 60.9% of all Smart cars on the road. Over the last year the #1 added the most cars on the road (+1,015, +45.5%) and the Fortwo lost the most (−1,730, −3.2%). 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fortwo | 52,344 | −3.2% | 4,845 | Petrol | 71.2% |
| Forfour | 23,516 | −2.9% | 1,333 | Petrol | 71.7% |
| City | 3,402 | −15.3% | 2,463 | Petrol | 60.1% |
| #1 | 3,245 | +45.5% | 20 | Electric | – |
| Roadster | 1,796 | −7.9% | 2,160 | Petrol | 71.1% |
| #3 | 967 | +164.9% | 6 | Electric | – |
| #5 | 257 | – | 1 | 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 Smart cars registered each year
Registrations of new Smart cars in Great Britain peaked at 11,873 in 2016. In 2025, 1,795 were registered for the first time: 0.09% of all new cars, against 0.45% in 2016, Smart’s best year for share of new cars.
Registered for the first time, by year
| Year | First registrations |
|---|---|
| ’03 | 4,946 |
| ’04 | 11,229 |
| ’05 | 9,747 |
| ’06 | 6,994 |
| ’07 | 5,193 |
| ’08 | 7,408 |
| ’09 | 8,273 |
| ’10 | 7,566 |
| ’11 | 4,978 |
| ’12 | 5,567 |
| ’13 | 5,284 |
| ’14 | 4,290 |
| ’15 | 8,347 |
| ’16 | 11,873 |
| ’17 | 10,207 |
| ’18 | 7,531 |
| ’19 | 3,953 |
| ’20 | 1,345 |
| ’21 | 1,536 |
| ’22 | 1,202 |
| ’23 | 761 |
| ’24 | 1,991 |
| ’25 | 1,795 |
Source:DfT / DVLA 2001 to 2025 Updated
Share of all new cars
Smart’s first registrations as a share of every car registered for the first time in Great Britain that year.
| Year | Share of new cars |
|---|---|
| 2003 | 0.19% |
| 2004 | 0.43% |
| 2005 | 0.40% |
| 2006 | 0.30% |
| 2007 | 0.22% |
| 2008 | 0.35% |
| 2009 | 0.42% |
| 2010 | 0.38% |
| 2011 | 0.26% |
| 2012 | 0.28% |
| 2013 | 0.24% |
| 2014 | 0.18% |
| 2015 | 0.32% |
| 2016 | 0.45% |
| 2017 | 0.41% |
| 2018 | 0.32% |
| 2019 | 0.17% |
| 2020 | 0.08% |
| 2021 | 0.09% |
| 2022 | 0.07% |
| 2023 | 0.04% |
| 2024 | 0.10% |
| 2025 | 0.09% |
Source:DfT / DVLA 2001 to 2025 Updated
Smart MOT reliability
In 2025, 70.7% of MOT tests of Smart cars were passed first time, from 80,521 tests. Cars of the same ages pass 69.1% of the time, so Smart does better than average for the age of its cars, by 1.6 points. That ranks Smart No. 23 of the 50 makes with enough tests to compare. 6.3% of Smart tests found at least one dangerous defect, against 7.3% for all cars.
Among Smart models with enough tests, the Roadster does best for its age (+10.6 points against cars of the same ages) and the Forfour does worst (−4.3 points). Average age at test for Smart cars: 12.3 years.
Every make and model ranked by MOT pass rate
Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis 2025 Updated
Smart safety recalls
DVSA lists 17 safety recalls naming a Smart car model since 1992, across 5 models. 6 were launched from 2016 to 2025, ranking Smart No. 48 of the makes with recalls in those years. A recall naming several Smart models counts once.
Recalls launched each year, 2006 to 2025
| Year | Recalls |
|---|---|
| ’06 | 1 |
| ’07 | 0 |
| ’08 | 0 |
| ’09 | 1 |
| ’10 | 0 |
| ’11 | 0 |
| ’12 | 0 |
| ’13 | 0 |
| ’14 | 1 |
| ’15 | 6 |
| ’16 | 2 |
| ’17 | 2 |
| ’18 | 0 |
| ’19 | 0 |
| ’20 | 0 |
| ’21 | 1 |
| ’22 | 0 |
| ’23 | 0 |
| ’24 | 0 |
| ’25 | 1 |
Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis January 1992 to September 2026 Updated
Models with the most recalls
| Model | Recalls |
|---|---|
| Smart Fortwo | 13 |
| Smart Forfour | 5 |
| Smart #1 | 1 |
| Smart #3 | 1 |
| Smart #5 | 1 |
Source:DVSA,UK Motoring analysis January 1992 to September 2026 Updated
Latest Smart recalls
- 31 Jul 2026 Vehicle Total upgrade via sVDS 2.0 Smart #5
- 30 Apr 2025 Seat Belt Buckle Smart #1, Smart #3
- 13 Sept 2021 The bonding of the windshield might not meet specifications Smart Fortwo
- 20 Oct 2017 Steering knuckle incorrectly manufactured Smart Forfour, Smart Fortwo
- 25 Sept 2017 Handbrake may not hold Smart Forfour, Smart Fortwo
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 Smart. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 | – |
| 34 | Alfa Romeo | 66,633 | −3.9% | Petrol | −1.3 pts |
| 35 | Subaru | 55,424 | −2.4% | Petrol | +6.4 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.