7:24 am, January 9, 2026
December had one last sting in the tail for used car retail values as prices of second-hand EVs slumped by 2%.
Latest data from Percayso Vehicle Intelligence shows that December followed November’s lead and witnessed a slight fall in overall used car trade prices.
Average retail values at the three-year age mark fell by just over 1%, or around £200, and followed a ‘typical season transition’, said the company.
All fuel types saw a drop, with petrols holding and diesels ‘remarkably firm’ slipping by 0.75% and 0.5% respectively.
But electric vehicles fell the most with December seeing an average drop of 2% – double that of hybrids.
Analysing the data with Car Dealer, automotive consultant Derren Martin said the fall was not dramatic in isolation, but more notable in the context of recent trends.
Speaking in the video at the top of this story, he said: ‘It’s not a massive drop, but EVs did have strength over the summer and since then they have kind of drifted away.’
Martin explained that the drop was influenced by seasonal trends, but also by what has been occurring in the new EV market.
He pointed to increased new car activity at the end of the year as a key factor, particularly as manufacturers chased ZEV mandate targets.
‘What’s happened at the end of the year is some pushing by the OEMs on getting some new car registrations,’ Martin explained. ‘You see some very keen new car deals monthly payment wise, and I hear a lot from dealers that people go in for a used car and come out with a new one at the moment because the monthly payments are so good.’
That dynamic, he said, has added pressure to used EVs just as seasonal demand weakens. ‘That’s possibly put some extra pressure on EVs at the end of the year.’
December also highlighted differences in dealer behaviour, with independents more likely to adjust pricing.
‘Independents have been dropping prices a little bit more than others trying to sell,’ Martin said, while ‘main dealers and car supermarkets [were] probably waiting for January and prepared to sell less.’
While overall December values were down, ‘several’ brands defied the seasonal trend, said Percayso.
Mazda and Skoda both emerged as the month’s top performers, with retail prices increasing by 1.2%. Continuing the theme seen in November, Vauxhall remained a popular choice for value-conscious buyers, with prices ticking up by 0.5%.
Land Rover and Volvo, however, recorded declines for the second consecutive month with drops of 1.7% and 2% respectively.
Pre-registration activity also had a noticeable impact on some brands as 2025 drew to a close.
‘Volvo was one that stood out – Volkswagen as well,’ Martin said. ‘Some of that is down to the pre-reg activity that they did – it can have a ripple effect onto their used car values of one-year-old and then down to three-year-old cars.”
Looking back on the year as a whole, Martin described 2025 as a recovery period for the used market.
‘Overall, I would say 2025 was a strong year for used cars,’ he said. ‘Volumes went up, the values held up reasonably well – it remains very robust.’
Early signs for January 2026 are encouraging.
‘We’ve seen a negligible uptick in values this month,’ Martin said, with Audi and BMW standing out as early movers. ‘I would expect there to be a small increase this month for retail values. It’s been a good start to the year.’
