Hyundai’s Tucson  SUV has emerged as Auto Trader’s fastest selling car for October after the 2015 diesel manual variant took an average of just 19 days to leave car dealer’s forecourts.

The 2017 Hyundai i800 (diesel automatic) MPV joined the Tucson in the round-up of the month’s most popular used car stock, taking third place, while the 2015 Hyundai i30 (diesel semi-automatic) made it a hat-trick for the Korean brand by finishing in seventh.

The top three was rounded off by Hyundai’s subsidiary, Kia, making an appearance in the number two spot with the 2015 Kia Sorento (diesel automatic), Auto Trader revealed.

Karolina Edwards-Smajda, Auto Trader’s director of commercial products, noted that the Tucson’s success reflected a wider appetite for SUVs among used car buyers. He said: “SUVs continue to be the dominant force in the UK’s used car market.

“They are consistently in the top three searches of body types on Auto Trader and have been the fastest selling used car more than any other body type in 2018.

“Our research shows that the most successful retailers are those that are able to turn their stock quickly; as such 4x4s represent a solid investment for retailers looking to maximise profits through fast turning stock.”

Auto Trader’s fastest-selling cars data showed that, regionally, what it called “the workhorses of the used car market”, namely SUVs and hatchbacks, dominated the list with SUVs claiming victory in East England (2015 Land Rover Discovery Sport - diesel automatic – 24 days), North West (2015 Renault Captur - diesel automatic – 11 days), Scotland (2016 Ford Kuga - diesel manual – 15 days), South (2015 Hyundai Tucson - diesel manual – 10 days), South East (2015 Vauxhall Mokka - diesel manual – 14 days), South West (2015 Ford Kuga - diesel manual – 33 days) and Yorkshire (2014 Nissan Qashqai - diesel manual – 17 days).

Hot on their heels were the ever popular hatchbacks ascending to the throne in the East Midlands (2015 Mercedes-Benz A Class - diesel manual – 24 days), North East (2016 Volkswagen Polo - petrol manual – 23 days), Northern Ireland (2015 Ford Focus - petrol manual – 34 days), Wales (2016 Volkswagen Polo - petrol manual – 30 days) and the West Midlands (2016 Mercedes-Benz A Class - diesel manual – 24 days).