It is anticipated, with the end of the 0X's and the start of the 1X's number plates; demand for license plates showing the start of the new decade is expected to be immense with number plate enthusiasts and the wider public alike. The DVLA seems to be feeding this excitement by revealing the license plates on November 2nd, and then allowing people a month to find their favourite personalised number plate and let the enthusiasm build before they go on sale on December 1st 2009.

Which plates will be direct sales and which plates will be auctioned off remains to be seen, but some plates are bound to be highly sought after. The '10' that will be used on license plates in March, and the '60' for September will allow plenty of new combinations, for example 'OH10 GAL' and 'PO60 STK.'

The time delay in the launch of personalised number plates will allow buyers time to find new combinations of plates and there are many providers that will help you if you are struggling to find the combination that best suits you.
Plenty of people are still unaware what the new registration format actually means, and are unaware of the '10' and '60' that will represent next year's license plates. A DVLA poll found that 17% of people interviewed weren't aware that the '09' and '59' registration plates related to the year 2009. Of course, there are still a huge number of people who are aware of this format, and it's those people that the DVLA wants to appeal to with launches like this.

Whichever license plates are left after the frenzy will be divvied up amongst new cars sold in March and September of 2010. There should be no shortage though; with two spaces that can be filled by any of twenty-three letters of the alphabet, and three spaces that can be filled with any of twenty-four (the letters I, Q and Z cannot be used in the first two slots, and I and Q cannot be used in the last three), the number of possible combinations is huge.