Affordable family cars dominated the latest league table from Dealer Auction’s Retail Margin Monitor, reflecting the fact that customers likely made decisions based on summer holiday considerations.

Land Rover’s Range Rover Evoque retained its number one position in July, with an average retail margin of £3,510 with the Citroën Grand C4 Picasso people-carrier, Toyota RAV4 SUV and Kia Sportage SUV’s retail margins also secured each a place in the top 10.

Dealer Auction said the Grand C4 Picasso stood out with an average Auto Trader days to sell of 29 and online automotive marketplace Auto Trader Retail Rating of 92 – making it the third fastest-selling and second highest-rated model in July’s league table.

The Kia Sportage also made its first-ever appearance in the top 10, taking the tenth spot for average retail margin, with an average days to sell of 28 – making it the month’s second fastest-selling model.

Dealer Auction’s marketplace director Kieran TeeBoon said the arrival of three affordable family cars in this month’s ranking could well be down to the summer break and families swapping their cars for something better suited to a week by the seaside.

"Our league table once again demonstrates why staying up to date with consumer trends like these has its benefits and can help dealers make educated predictions about the stock their customers are looking for. Basically, how to make high-profit sales as fast as possible,” he said.

Last month’s fastest-selling profit-turner, the Mazda CX-5, has held onto the crown for yet another month, with an average days to sell of 22 in July. It also scored the highest AT Retail Rating of 95.

At brand level, Land Rover and BMW held onto the number one and two spots, with average retail margins of £3,580 and £3,000 respectively. After dropping out of the top 10 makes last month, SEAT is back in the number 10 spot with an average retail margin of £2,133. Citroën appears just outside the brand table at number 11.

TeeBoon said: “We can speculate that Citroën’s position at brand level – so close to the top 10 – will have been greatly affected by the Grand C4 Picasso’s high sales margin and rating in July. If anything, this is a reminder to consider all factors, including average margins, the Auto Trader Retail Rating and average days to sell, when seeking out the best profit opportunities.

“And if we circle back to the Mazda CX-5, it’s the perfect example of using the available tools to identify potential top-selling models before the month even begins – helping dealers fill their forecourt for profit.”

Richard Walker, director of data & insights at Auto Trader, the UK’s largest online automotive marketplace, added: “Supply is slowly beginning to return to the used car market and we’re seeing high levels of demand absorbing this with visits to Auto Trader up 17% on 2022 in July. With good use of data, cars sell quickly.

"We’re seeing cars aged 5-10 years sell in just 28 days and solid demand is also reflected in the volume of used car transactions, up over 4% on the second quarter of 2022. These market dynamics mean there’s plenty of profit opportunities out there for retailers who stay close to the data.”