Image is important to online buyers, says Auto Trader, judging by vehicles that increased in popularity over the past 12 months. Those showing the largest rise in demand have been launched since 1998 and received critical acclaim reflected by their popularity second-hand.

The biggest rise was by the Vauxhall Zafira, GM's entry to the mini-MPV market pioneered by the Renault Scenic.

Vauxhall has cleverly trumped the appeal of Renault's five-seater by designing it to seat seven people. This probably helped contribute to the 150% increase in searches recorded for Zafira.

The striking Audi TT comes in second although its limited availability last year might have restricted demand for it. Its rise in popularity is all the more significant against the general decline in demand for sportscars.

The Peugeot 206 comes next, picking up from where the 205 left off. Dispelling the idea that Italian cars are never sought-after second-hand, the Alfa Romeo 156 achieves a 55% increase in searches, while the Ford Focus is in fifth place close behind.

The biggest increase in demand was for models that have recently become more widely available on the used market – Vauxhall Zafira, Audi TT and Peugeot 206.

Just behind is a trio of superminis – Citroen Saxo, Vauxhall Corsa and Ford Ka. The growing popularity of the Citroen and Vauxhall is in some ways accounted for by a drop in demand for their predecessors, the AX and Nova.

However, the majority of demand for the Citroen Saxo was concentrated on the VTR/VTS performance versions.

The biggest decrease in demand (51%) was recorded for the Nissan Sunny, although this was offset by a rise in demand for Almera, its replacement. The second highest decrease was also claimed by Nissan, with the Primera falling by a near identical amount to its smaller sibling. Possibly the perceived lack of glamour surrounding these vehicles is causing them to be overlooked by image conscious internet users. Ford's Sierra, the Rover 800 and the Saab 900 take the remaining five lowest positions.