The UK’s roads are constantly changing. When each generation thinks about common cars from their lives, they will likely be completely different to people of different ages. This will likely be even more dramatic for the next generation thanks to alternative fuel, autonomous driving and, dare we say it, we might finally see flying cars.
To see which cars are predicted to disappear from the UK’s roads before the end of 2030, we’ve used the Department for Transport’s data on cars registered to calculate how long ten cars have before they’re gone for good.
There’s an abundance of reasons why cars are removed from production. Below, you’ll find the most common reasons:
By using data from the Department for Transport, we were able to predict ten vehicles that will disappear before the end of 2030 if registrations keep falling at their current rates.
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The Rover 25, the update of the Rover 200 Series, could be gone from the UK by mid-2023. This iconic car which was created by Rover was a staple in the ‘90s and ‘00s but sadly, only has a couple of years left based on their yearly decrease rate of -28.7%.
Another fundamental motor in the 2000s, the Peugeot 307, could be gone as soon as mid-2025. The impressive car was Peugeot’s equivalent to the likes of the Ford Focus but was pulled from production in 2008 to be replaced by the Peugeot 308.
The Ford Ka is the most recent model to cease production on the list. Being pulled in 2021 after 24 years on the market, Ford’s premier small car could be gone as soon as the middle of 2028 thanks to its annual depreciation of -12.5%.
Closing out our list is the Ferrari F430 which could be gone before the end of 2030. This is the most pricey vehicle on our list, with an average price of £80,995, however, its numbers are still dropping by over 10% each year.
We also identified the 20 cars that are likely to vanish from the UK’s roads in the very near future.
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In the top spot is the Fiat Brava with only 853 left in the UK. With the highest depreciation rate between 2015 to 2020, the Brava saw a massive reduction by -92% suggesting it could be extinct in the next couple of years.
The now-defunct Korean brand, Daewoo Motors, has five vehicles in the top 20 in second place and the 10 to 13 positions. The company went bust in 2011 after a long period of financial difficulties. Their numbers have dwindled in the years since their bankruptcy and will likely soon vanish in the UK.
The Daewoo Tacuma is the model in second place with only 1,164 vehicles left and a depreciation rate of 89.8%. This suggests it’ll be the first of its kind to go, soon to be followed by its siblings.
Fiat has their second vehicle in the top three, the Fiat Marea. With only 409 left registered in the UK and an 89.6% depreciation rate, it’s unlikely you’ll be seeing the Marea on the road for much longer.
In fourth place is the rather short-lived car, the Rover CityRover. Released by the now-deceased English brand, MG Rover, the poorly-reviewed car was only produced for two years before the company went into administration.
Closing out the top five with only five left in the UK is a custom car, the Ford Grosvenor. The range was made by Coleman Milne who created a series of limousines that were prominent in the UK.
Sadly, the unique motors won’t be around for much longer with a depreciation rate of 88.9%, which will soon see their numbers reach zero.
It seems we Brits love to hang onto our old motors. A huge 385 models have ten or fewer registered in the UK. This includes classic cars like the Chrysler 180, Ferrari SF90, McLaren Elva and many more giving you a one in 13 million chance of seeing these vehicles.
Cars registered in the UK with 50 or under vehicles jumps to nearly 750. With 130 million cars registered, you have a 1 in 2.6 million chance of seeing one on the roads with 50 registered so you’ll need to keep your eyes peeled.
Retrofitting your car is the perfect way to hang onto your treasured motor whilst making a switch to green energy. Also known as electric restomods, it means to convert or rebuild your car, changing it to electric fuel rather than a combustion engine.
You maintain everything you love about your classic car, the look, feel and history, but you improve its reliability and usability - preventing those frustrating breakdowns associated with classic cars.
If you’re a budding mechanic, you could take on the retrofit yourself but as demand increases, so does the number of companies offering classic car conversions.
If you want to keep your classic car with its original fuel type, you’ll have to give it lots of care and attention to keep it in top working condition.
Using data from the Department for Transport, we analysed all cars licenced by make and generic model in the UK. For every car, we looked at how the number changed between 2015 and 2020. Those with the greatest reduction were seen as the most likely to go extinct in the UK.
For the estimated years, we calculated the average percentage drop each year from 2015 to 2020 and used the total for 2020 to see how long the drop would take to reach zero.
