S40
Volvo · on record 1994 to 2025
The Volvo S40 was Volvo's compact saloon name across 2 generations, first developed with Mitsubishi and later using Ford group architecture shared with the V50 estate. The S40 had a distinct role in the Volvo range, giving buyers a reason to choose it beyond the badge alone. As ordinary family use recedes, the S40 survives through a mixture of continued practicality and growing interest in the versions that best represent its period.
DECLINING
Red List classification, from population, five year trajectory and survival against peak. Reviewed each census.
13,994
licensed vehicles
2025 census
2025 census
17.1% of the peak fleet remains licensed
5,542
declared SORN
total surviving
peak 82,009 in 2008 · −2,985 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
At the average decline recorded over the latest five years, the licensed fleet would reach zero around 2029.
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 |
|---|---|---|
| A rear registration plate lamp with any lamp not working | 50,424 | 4.2% |
| 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 | 46,632 | 3.8% |
| An obligatory lamp inoperative or less than 50% of the light sources illuminating | 40,446 | 3.3% |
| A rigid brake pipe excessively chafed, corroded or damaged | 34,655 | 2.9% |
| A direction indicator shows light of an incorrect colour | 27,682 | 2.3% |
| 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 | 26,693 | 2.2% |
| A rear registration plate lamp not illuminating the rear registration plate or any lamp or bulb not working. | 24,493 | 2.0% |
| A brake lining or pad insecure or less than 1.5mm thick at any point | 23,746 | 2.0% |
Counted across every recorded test, 2005 to 2025. Advisories are excluded.
Where the S40 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 |
|---|---|---|
| B | 559 | 80% |
| S | 493 | 72% |
| PE | 423 | 73% |
| NG | 411 | 70% |
| NE | 381 | 70% |
| LE | 375 | 74% |
| IP | 367 | 67% |
| DN | 305 | 74% |
| CV | 304 | 77% |
| M | 294 | 73% |
| L | 292 | 72% |
| NN | 290 | 69% |
| NR | 288 | 70% |
| G | 273 | 70% |
| BN | 263 | 68% |
| YO | 262 | 70% |
| EH | 260 | 70% |
| CH | 250 | 66% |
| LL | 242 | 72% |
| SA | 237 | 70% |
| DE | 233 | 74% |
| BS | 233 | 67% |
| CF | 229 | 68% |
| PO | 225 | 75% |
| RG | 225 | 76% |
| OX | 224 | 71% |
| LS | 220 | 75% |
| TN | 220 | 72% |
| MK | 211 | 75% |
| SO | 209 | 75% |
| TS | 202 | 69% |
| GL | 198 | 66% |
| PR | 198 | 72% |
| CB | 198 | 71% |
| EX | 197 | 66% |
| WA | 190 | 73% |
| BD | 190 | 70% |
| BH | 180 | 66% |
| SK | 172 | 74% |
| WF | 172 | 79% |
| GU | 167 | 70% |
| ST | 166 | 72% |
| ME | 164 | 76% |
| NP | 164 | 66% |
| SY | 163 | 72% |
| CT | 163 | 72% |
| PL | 156 | 67% |
| SN | 156 | 69% |
| HP | 153 | 75% |
| AB | 150 | 61% |
| CA | 144 | 69% |
| HU | 144 | 71% |
| SL | 143 | 77% |
| CO | 142 | 73% |
| RH | 142 | 73% |
| TA | 141 | 68% |
| KY | 136 | 59% |
| BA | 134 | 71% |
| BB | 134 | 79% |
| SE | 134 | 84% |
| CM | 132 | 80% |
| LU | 122 | 80% |
| LN | 121 | 70% |
| DD | 113 | 59% |
| TR | 112 | 69% |
| BL | 108 | 77% |
| UB | 108 | 80% |
| WR | 106 | 68% |
| WS | 106 | 76% |
| TQ | 103 | 70% |
| N | 103 | 83% |
| SS | 103 | 75% |
| DY | 102 | 80% |
| DH | 101 | 78% |
| KA | 99 | 65% |
| KT | 99 | 80% |
| WV | 98 | 71% |
| SR | 96 | 72% |
| FK | 93 | 67% |
| E | 92 | 85% |
| HA | 92 | 79% |
| LA | 92 | 75% |
| NW | 91 | 79% |
| OL | 90 | 78% |
| WN | 89 | 74% |
| ML | 89 | 64% |
| SG | 88 | 76% |
| FY | 84 | 68% |
| CW | 83 | 69% |
| IV | 83 | 67% |
| SP | 83 | 65% |
| CR | 80 | 80% |
| DT | 80 | 62% |
| DL | 78 | 69% |
| PA | 78 | 71% |
| RM | 77 | 88% |
| TW | 76 | 83% |
| TF | 73 | 71% |
| EN | 66 | 76% |
| HD | 65 | 69% |
| DG | 65 | 69% |
| DA | 62 | 73% |
| PH | 61 | 62% |
| HR | 53 | 70% |
| SW | 50 | 82% |
| AL | 50 | 64% |
| IG | 45 | 84% |
| WD | 43 | 70% |
| HG | 42 | 67% |
| HX | 38 | 74% |
| TD | 37 | 76% |
| W | 35 | 77% |
| BR | 29 | 86% |
| SM | 23 | 78% |
| KW | 23 | 57% |
| LD | 19 | 68% |
| HS | 11 | 73% |
| ZE | 1 | 100% |
How this record was calculated
LATEST CENSUS2025
POPULATION SOURCEDVLA VEH0220 annual
HISTORY SOURCEDVLA VEH0120 GB · to 2013
MOT SOURCEDVSA results · to 2025
FAMILY DEFINITIONVOLVO S40
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.