UK vehicle statistics / Volkswagen

How many Volkswagen cars are left?

At the end of 2026 Q1, DfT recorded 3,702,507 licensed and 399,850 SORN Volkswagen vehicles in the UK, across 67 published model groups. That means 1 in 10 surviving Volkswagen is currently off the road.

Is the Volkswagen fleet shrinking?

Adding up every published Volkswagen model group: 3,702,507 are licensed as of 2026 Q1 — the highest count in the published series, so the Volkswagen range is still arriving on UK roads rather than leaving them. That is up 8% in the five years since 2021 Q1. A further 399,850 are declared SORN — 1 in 10 of the 4,102,357 still on the DVLA record is off the road, laid up, part-restored or waiting to be sold.

Volkswagen MOT pass rate

In 2024, 71.9% of 2,625,665 Volkswagen MOTs passed first time — above the 71.2% UK average.

The items most often behind a first-test failure across published Volkswagen model groups:

• Condition — 4% of tests. Corrosion, damage or wear on a tested component. Worth seeing in person, as the cost ranges from trivial to structural.
• Exhaust Emissions — 3.5% of tests. The car exceeded its emissions limits. Can be a sensor or a service, but on a diesel it can also mean an expensive filter or catalyst.
• Headlamp Aim — 3.2% of tests. Headlights pointing too high or low. Cheap to adjust, and common on every make.
• Brake Performance — 3.2% of tests. The brakes underperformed on the rolling road. Expect brake work rather than an adjustment.

See every model on the Volkswagen MOT pass rate page.

Before you buy

• Condition — 4% of tests in 2024. Corrosion, damage or wear on a tested component. Worth seeing in person, as the cost ranges from trivial to structural.
• Exhaust Emissions — 3.5% of tests in 2024. The car exceeded its emissions limits. Can be a sensor or a service, but on a diesel it can also mean an expensive filter or catalyst.
• Headlamp Aim — 3.2% of tests in 2024. Headlights pointing too high or low. Cheap to adjust, and common on every make.
• Brake Performance — 3.2% of tests in 2024. The brakes underperformed on the rolling road. Expect brake work rather than an adjustment.
• Check the actual Volkswagen — These figures describe the model group. Enter the registration for that vehicle's free MOT, tax and mileage record before you pay a deposit.

Rarest Volkswagen models

The published Volkswagen model groups with the smallest surviving populations.

• Variant — 69 licensed, 41 SORN
• Jerba — 108 licensed, 2 SORN
• 1100 — 53 licensed, 64 SORN
• Derby — 73 licensed, 54 SORN
• Pick-UP — 87 licensed, 95 SORN

Every Volkswagen model

How to read these numbers

Licensed means taxed and legal to use on the road at the end of the quarter. SORN means the keeper has declared it off the road — it still exists, but it is not in use. A model group's total is the best available proxy for how many survive, and a shrinking one means fewer donor cars, fewer specialists and slower parts supply.

Common questions

How many Volkswagen cars are left in the UK?

3,702,507 Volkswagen vehicles were licensed and 399,850 were SORN at the end of 2026 Q1, across 67 published model groups, according to DfT and DVLA statistics.

Which Volkswagen is rarest?

Of the published Volkswagen model groups, the Variant has the smallest surviving population at 69 licensed and 41 SORN.

Is the Volkswagen fleet shrinking?

3,702,507 are licensed as of 2026 Q1 — the highest count in the published series, so the Volkswagen range is still arriving on UK roads rather than leaving them. That is up 8% in the five years since 2021 Q1. A further 399,850 are declared SORN — 1 in 10 of the 4,102,357 still on the DVLA record is off the road, laid up, part-restored or waiting to be sold.

What is the Volkswagen MOT pass rate?

71.9% of 2,625,665 class-4 initial MOT tests on Volkswagen cars passed first time in 2024 — above the 71.2% UK average.

What do Volkswagen cars fail the MOT on?

Across published Volkswagen model groups, the most common initial failure categories in 2024 are condition (4% of tests), exhaust emissions (3.5% of tests), headlamp aim (3.2% of tests). DVSA publishes each model group's six most common categories, so this ranks the biggest published causes.

Does a Volkswagen population figure describe the car I am looking at?

No. It describes the model group. Enter the registration for that car's own free MOT, tax and mileage record.

Source and limitations

Source: Department for Transport and DVLA, df_VEH0120_UK. Released 2026-07-15 under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

DVLA make and model fields are administrative data and can contain omissions or inconsistencies. These statistics describe model groups, not an individual registration.

Confidential cells marked [c] represent between 1 and 4 vehicles and are treated as zero in aggregates, so totals can be slightly understated.