S Class

Mercedes-Benz · on record 1994 to 2025

The Mercedes Benz S Class is Mercedes Benz's flagship luxury saloon, historically used to introduce advanced safety, comfort and electronic technology before it spread through the rest of the range. The S Class appealed mainly to buyers seeking a more sporting or distinctive choice than the maker's ordinary range. The remaining S Class population is increasingly shaped by the cars owners still find useful or distinctive enough to maintain once routine depreciation has run its course.

DECLINING

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

22,455 licensed vehicles
2025 census

73.4% of the peak fleet remains licensed

8,855

declared SORN

total surviving

peak 30,598 in 2016 · −1,354 vehicles a year, five year trend

Population history

Licensed and SORN vehicles at each census. The filters below apply to the family population, MOT and registration figures. They do not alter the generation history above.

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 2041.

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	27	4.3%
A rigid brake pipe excessively chafed, corroded or damaged	14	2.2%
The windscreen washers do not provide enough liquid to clear the windscreen in conjunction with the wiper(s)	10	1.6%
Excessive play in a ball joint	10	1.6%
A low braking effort is recorded from the parking brake on any wheel, indicating clearly that the brake is not functioning correctly	10	1.6%
Excessive play in a suspension ball joint	9	1.4%
Headlamp reflector or lens slightly defective	8	1.3%
An obligatory lamp inoperative or less than 50% of the light sources illuminating	8	1.3%

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

Where the S 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
ST	3	67%
RH	2	100%
GU	1	100%
PR	1	100%
BN	1	100%
SA	1	100%
CO	1	0%

How this record was calculated

LATEST CENSUS2025

POPULATION SOURCEDVLA VEH0220 annual

HISTORY SOURCEDVLA VEH0120 GB · to 2013

MOT SOURCEDVSA results · to 2025

FAMILY DEFINITIONMERCEDES S CLASS

PROCESSED20 Sep 2026

Full methodology

Population history combines DVLA VEH0120 Q4 census observations through 2013 with the annual VEH0220 census from 2014 onward. Figures before 2014 cover Great Britain only. Historical VEH0120 is used only when its overlapping UK observations reconcile to the current canonical family definition. Vehicles are grouped into this family using the DVLA GenModel together with durable routing rules for known inconsistencies.

Variant figures are parsed from raw DVLA model descriptions and the original string is always retained. Configuration is only assigned where the model description explicitly identifies it; a blank configuration is not treated as a two door Wrangler. 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.