Used car values rose 3% at Manheim auction houses and 11% on the Dealer Trade online trading platform but dipped 10% on the consumer-facing Motors.co.uk website during June, Cox Automotive has revealed.

The average value of a used car offered for sale via Manheim rose from £6,649 in May to £6,816 last month, with the diesel market faltering slightly in comparison to the overall view with a 14% year-on-year increase in the £10,000 to £20,000 range compared to a 16% overall year-on-year rise overall.

Dealer Auction saw volumes increase 19% year-on-year, while average sales price on the trade-to-trade online auction platform increased 11% (to £4,523) as NextGear Capital, Cox Automotive's wholesale stock funding business, reported that the average cost per unit increased 4.8% year-on-year to £7,194 in June, with a 4.2% decrease on average age, and a minor 0.4% increase in average mileage.

But rising values across Cox’s auction channels came in contrast to its consumer-facing Motors.co.uk car search platform, which reported average sold prices down 10% since May, from £13,373 to £11,970.

Cox Automotive's head of external relations, Philip Nothard, explained that dealers’ demand for stock remains strong.

"The first half of the year has been interesting,” he said. “As seen with the SMMT figures, the new market is underperforming, and we expect this struggle to continue into the foreseeable future. However, in stark contrast, the used market has been consistently healthy.

“The industry is facing many known unknowns – the impact of WLTP is still uncertain, there is a risk of increased pre-registration activity and there will be the usual availability struggles as September approaches. But despite this, we expect demand to pick up in July and we've seen many dealers stocking up in expectation of a rush.”

Nothard added: "Despite an easing in terms of sales, demand and conversions as we approached the end of the month, overall, the used market remains steady."

“The supply and acquisition of the right stock remains one of the biggest challenges for the wholesale market going forward, especially in terms of ex-lease vehicles, where we are seeing a surge of similar models coming through the lanes creating price pressures.

“Vendors who can differentiate will do well as we go into the second half of the year."