8:30 am, May 13, 2022
Car dealers are seeing a surge in sales of used cars with automatic transmissions while manuals are suffering a slow decline, new data has revealed.
Statistics from AA Cars show that 41 per cent of used cars currently on the market are fitted with an automatic gearbox -up from 30 per cent just two years ago.
In some parts of the country, the proportion of automatic models is much higher, with 72 per cent of used cars for sale in Brentford having the transmission. Chelmsford, Croydon and Guildford also see a high percentage of autos, with 68, 65 and 63 per cent respectively.
The data comes from AA Cars’ online marketplace with the surge driven in part by the increased popularity of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Figures released this week by the SMMT show that sales of used EVs soared 120 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, though the market share is still very small.
The used market also reflects new car buying habits, which have seen manual transmissions decline in popularity over the past decade to such a degree that many higher value models are only sold with automatics.
James Fairclough, CEO of AA Cars, said: ‘Car manufacturers have responded to the surging popularity of EVs by bringing out ever more advanced models, and there are now no fewer than 140 different plug-in models for sale in the UK.
‘As more of these vehicles make their way into the second-hand market, we’re seeing a steady rise in the number of used automatics for sale – and in some areas autos now account for over 70 per cent of the used market.’
At the other end of the scale, Gloucester has the lowest proportion of automatic cars for sale at 17 per cent. This is followed by Gateshead (24 per cent), Redditch and Barnsley (both 25 per cent).
