3:38 pm, August 28, 2020
New and used car demand isn’t going to fizzle out anytime soon, according to Auto Trader.
Speaking exclusively to Car Dealer, Auto Trader’s commercial director Ian Plummer said consumer demand is currently ‘exceptionally strong’ – and is likely to stay that way for some months ahead.
Auto Trader data shows that used car prices are so far 6.6 per cent up in August and the classified advertising website has also revealed the Mazda CX-5 is the fastest selling used car of the month.
‘This demand is sustainable,’ said Plummer, in the exclusive video you watch at the top of this story.
‘I think a lot of people thought the demand was going to be focused on this “pent-up demand” which would be fizzling out as lockdown ended.
‘What we’re seeing is a strengthening of demand – we’ve got a level of audience on Auto Trader that is rising; we’re around 30 per cent up year-on-year, and we’ve seen higher numbers than pre-lockdown.
‘There’s no tailing off from consumers coming to the site and we had more than 10m unique users and a record 64m visits in July.
‘We’re a good bellwether of the car market and there are lots of people looking for cars and it isn’t a question of pent-up demand.’
Auto Trader’s latest data shows that SUVs make up the nine of the top 10 fastest selling used cars in August.
- 2016 Mazda CX-5 (manual), 26 days
- 2014 Peugeot 2008, 26 days
- 2014 Kia Sorento (manual), 27 days
- 2016 Mazda CX-5 (auto), 29 days
- 2014 Kia Sorento (auto), 29 days
- 2013 Vauxhall Zafira, 29 days
- 2015 Peugeot 2008, 29 days
- 2013 Mitsubishi Outlander, 30 days
- 2019 Mercedes GLA, 30 days
- 2015 Dacia Sandero Stepway, 31 days
The number of days to sell is a clear indicator of the health of the used car market and the current stats point to it being very healthy indeed.
Auto Trader’s director of commercial products Karolina Edwards-Smajda said: ‘We’re seeing solid demand across most body types, but the star of the show continues to be SUVs where demand is up by 43.6 per cent year-on-year.
‘This strong consumer appetite, along with the continued rise in used car prices and the record audience we are seeing on Auto Trader, is a strong indicator that the market will remain buoyant in the coming months.’
Plummer agrees and in our interview explained that the demand among consumers to change their car isn’t likely to drop off a cliff, despite warnings of reduced income and redundancies from October as the furlough scheme comes to an end.
‘A lot of people are asking will the demand tail off or fall over after September,’ he said.
‘Given that it’s sustaining itself at the moment, there is no reason to second guess that it’s going to fall away.
‘We’re conscious that many people are talking about October – furlough ending and redundancies, and this will dent consumer confidence and reduce household expenditure.
‘No doubt that will be true for an unfortunate number of people, but even in these situations – and we saw it in the last financial crisis – many people still need a car.’
The slowest selling used cars in the UK
- 2020 Maserati Levante, 150 days
- 2020 Audi A4 (manual), 150 days
- 2020 Audi A4 (auto), 149 days
- 2020 VW Passat, 149 days
- 2020 Lexus IS300, 148 days
- 2019 Kia XCeed (manual), 147 days
- 2020 Audi S4, 146 days
- 2019 Kia XCeed (auto), 146 days
- 2020 Mercedes C Class, 139 days
- 2020 VW Golf, 139 days
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