The stock of cars in use on UK roads has risen to a new high of almost 32m according to data released by the SMMT.

The SMMT said that rising new car sales and longer lasting cars have combined to create sustained parc growth.

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A 1.4% rise in the 2013 car parc – to 31,917,885 cars – marked the fastest rate of growth for ten years.

Cars older than 12 years rose 11.3% against 2012 with 2.06 million more cars recorded in the latest census. Compared with a decade ago, the average age of a car increased by a full year (to 7.7 years old), as the trend grew longer for cars remaining on the road.

“With more cars bought and less scrapped in recent years, the total number on UK roads reached an all-time high last year,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive. “Major investment by manufacturers in advanced production techniques, supported by longer vehicle warranties, has seen car reliability enhanced still further. Additionally, spreading the cost of regular maintenance through service packages makes car ownership more affordable, so it is not surprising that people are running cars for longer.”

The SMMT said that almost a fifth of models on UK roads were built in the UK, with only Germany boasting a higher market share. Spain, France and Japan make up the top five, which collectively accounts for more than three quarters of the 31.9m cars on UK roads.

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The SMMT said that there are more than 1,453 different models on UK roads, with the Ford Focus in top spot for popularity, with almost 1.5m owners. The Ford Fiesta is in second place.

UK car parc top models

Make    Model Total on UK roads

Ford Focus 1,462,735
Ford Fiesta 1,423,254
Vauxhall Corsa 1,246,650
Vauxhall Astra 1,188,385
Volkswagen Golf 998,645
Renault Clio 680,890
Volkswagen Polo 625,144
Ford Mondeo 562,948

The SMMT also says that the UK car parc has cut average CO2 by 7.3% in the past five years (to average 160g/km CO2).