8:17 am, March 7, 2022
After experiencing a once-in-a-generation boom last year, the used car market showed further signs of stability last month with only marginal fluctuations in pricing and stock levels, eBay Motors group has found.
The firm’s latest market view report found that used car prices actually dipped by o.26 per cent in February, from £17,924 to £17,876.
The decline was led by car supermarkets, which saw values fall by 1.7 per cent to £18,546 – the only retail sector to see prices drop.
Elsewhere, franchised dealers remained on a par with January at £21,387, with independents increasing 1.4 per cent to £14,881.
Despite this, some older cars still experienced significant price rises with diesel examples of the Audi A4, aged 14-16 years, seeing year-on-year prices rise by 30.4 per cent to £4,174.
Dealers sold cars two days faster in February than January, averaging 44.2 days, with all sectors enjoying month-on-month improvements.
Car supermarkets led the way averaging just 28.4 days to sell, over a week faster than January.
Franchised dealers saw days to sell reduce from 45.1 to 42.5 days, while independents were virtually unchanged at 50.6 days.
Stock volumes were only slightly down month-on-month, dipping from 46.2 to 45.6 units.
However, the ongoing industry-wide squeeze on stock was highlighted by the car supermarket sector which saw volumes drop 12.7 per cent to 308 units.
Franchised dealers averaged 58 units, just one unit down month-on-month, while independents increased by one unit to 34.
Dermot Kelleher, head of marketing and research at eBay Motors Group, said: ‘February saw some welcome stability across the used car sector with advertised prices remaining strong and days to sell improving.
‘Sourcing desirable stock continues to be a challenge. However, the coming weeks will see a welcome influx of trade-ins in the franchised sector as a result of the plate-change, while dealers across all sectors will be trading through inventories many built up before Christmas.’
The title of February’s fastest selling car was shared between six to eight year-old Ford Kugas and Range Rover Evoques, which both averaged just 19.4 days to sell.
Despite the inroads electric cars continue to make in the new sector, they only accounted for one per cent of used dealer stock in February, compared to 52.9 per cent for petrol and 43.2 per cent for diesel.
Likewise combustion engines continue to dominate online searches: petrol (52.3 per cent), diesel (45 per cent), hybrid (two per cent) and electric (0.6 per cent).
