Makes / Mercedes-Benz / C Class

C Class

Mercedes-Benz · on record 1994 to 2025

DECLINING

Red List classification, from population, five year trajectory and survival against peak. Reviewed each census.

342,536 licensed vehicles
2025 census

79.9% of the peak fleet remains licensed

49,270

declared SORN

total surviving

peak 428,590 in 2018 · −15,555 vehicles a year, five year trend

Population history

Licensed and SORN vehicles at each census. Filters apply to the population, MOT and registration figures together.

Licensed SORN Latest census observation SOURCE DVLA VEH0120 / VEH0220

At the average decline recorded over the latest five years, the licensed fleet would reach zero around 2047.

Illustrative projection only; vehicle populations rarely decline linearly. Late fleets typically flatten as surviving examples enter preservation.

Inside the surviving fleet

AutoCensus parses every DVLA variant description, so the fleet can be read by fuel and specification rather than as one number.

First registrations by year

When surviving examples first joined the British fleet.

New registrations

Vehicles first registered each year. A fleet still being sold shows here; a finished one shows only imports.

MOT reliability

DVSA test results for this family, 2005 to 2025.

Pass rate by year

Failure reason	Failures	Share of all tests
The grooves of the tread pattern are not at least 1.6mm throughout a continuous band comprising the central three-quarters of the breadth of tread, and round the entire outer circumference of the tyre	66	5.0%
Brake pipe damaged or excessively corroded	24	1.8%
Excessive play in a ball joint	21	1.6%
A wiper blade insecure, missing or in such a condition that it does not clear the windscreen effectively to give the driver an adequate view of the road (through the windscreen) to the left and right sides of the vehicle, as well as to the front	19	1.5%
Windscreen or window damaged or seriously discoloured but not adversely affecting driver's view	17	1.3%
A brake lining or pad insecure or less than 1.5mm thick at any point	17	1.3%
An obligatory lamp inoperative or less than 50% of the light sources illuminating	16	1.2%
A spring or spring component fractured or seriously weakened	16	1.2%

Counted across every recorded test, 2005 to 2025. Advisories are excluded.

Where the C Class remains

Based on MOT test locations, 2025. Test location is a proxy: a vehicle is counted where it was last tested, not where it is kept.

Postcode area	Vehicles tested	Pass rate
RM	3	100%
TW	2	50%
SK	2	50%
NR	2	50%
NN	2	50%
LE	2	100%
DN	2	50%
M	1	100%
RH	1	100%
BS	1	100%
CT	1	100%
OL	1	100%
B	1	100%
BH	1	100%
WD	1	100%
CF	1	100%

Show all 16 areas

How this record was calculated

LATEST CENSUS2025

POPULATION SOURCEDVLA VEH0220 quarterly

HISTORY SOURCEDVLA VEH0120 GB · to 2013

MOT SOURCEDVSA results · to 2025

FAMILY DEFINITIONMERCEDES C CLASS

PROCESSED20 Jul 2026

Full methodology

Population figures count vehicles recorded as licensed or SORN in the DVLA quarterly extract. Figures before 2014 cover Great Britain only. Vehicles are grouped into this family by the DVLA GenModel key shown above, with routing rules for known inconsistencies.

Variant figures are parsed from raw DVLA model descriptions and the original string is always retained. Blank transmission fields are shown as manual because DVLA records the field for automatic vehicles.

MOT figures count tests, not vehicles, and geographic figures count each vehicle at its most recent test location. The decline projection is a straight line fitted to the latest five years and is illustrative only.