Used car market held steady in March as days to sell improves

The used car market maintained stability in March, with prices and stock levels holding steady while dealers experienced a welcome improvement in days to sell, according to Motors’ latest Market View report.

Analysis reveals that retail demand remained strong, leading to cars averaging just 30 days in stock- three days faster than in February and five days faster than in January. The fastest sales were achieved by car supermarkets at just 21 days, followed by franchised sites at 24 days and independents at 49 days. All three sectors recorded their best sales performance of the first quarter.

Online views on Motors increased across all dealer sectors and price bands, with the majority of buyers searching for cars priced between £5,000 and £15,000. Sold volumes also improved across all three dealer sectors, both month-on-month (MoM) and year-on-year (YoY).

The average price of a used car in March stood at £17,391, reflecting a modest MoM increase of £6 and a YoY rise of £203. While franchised (£23,647) and independent (£12,758) dealers saw little change MoM, car supermarkets recorded a 1% increase (£157) to £16,754.

Prices by fuel type remained stable across petrol (£16,599), diesel (£15,220), and hybrids (£24,558). However, the ongoing decline in electric vehicle (EV) prices, which began in September, continued with a MoM drop of £323 to £24,203 - down 14% YoY. This shift is attributed to price corrections and an increase in older EVs, particularly those aged five to ten years, entering the market.

Stock levels remained unchanged MoM at 48 units per site. Franchised dealers averaged 55 units in both February and March, while independents held steady at 38 units throughout Q1. The only fluctuation in March was among car supermarkets, which increased stock by three units to 144.

The Volkswagen Golf emerged as the fastest-selling model, with petrol versions under six months old and fewer than 5,000 miles averaging just 10 days to sell. The top five best-selling used cars in March were the Vauxhall Corsa, Ford Fiesta, Nissan Qashqai, Volkswagen Golf, and Ford Focus.

“The stability of the used car market in Q1 enabled dealers to focus on solid consumer demand in March, demonstrated by an uptick in views on Motors over the course of the month,” said Lucy Tugby, marketing director of Motors.

“Any impact of the March plate-change has yet to be felt as dealers traded through inventories amassed over the quarter, with franchised dealers only just starting to list their part-exchanges.

“EV trends remain an area of interest, with our data showing how average prices have now dipped below hybrids, the result of price corrections and an increase in models aged five to ten years coming to market,” added Tugby.