8:22 am, November 10, 2023
The Land Rover Discovery Sport is by far and away the most profitable used car for dealers, according to fresh data.
The SUV makes car dealers an average profit of £5,000 – £1,200 more than the second placed car in the list compiled by Dealer Auction.
The latest Top 10 covers October transactions and is compiled using the prices cars are sold on trade-to-trade buying platform Dealer Auction and the retail prices used cars are listed for on Auto Trader.
At a time used car prices are dropping quickly, the firm says that by ‘harnessing the power of smart data’ dealers can choose cars which sell quickly with good margins.
On a manufacturer level, Toyota has broken into the top 10 brands for returning the most profit for car dealers for the first time, taking 10th place making an average of £2,300 per car.
Land Rover still tops the list with a whopping return of £4,250 per car.
Top 10 most profitable models
Source: Dealer Auction Retail Margin Monitor, October
- Land Rover Discovery Sport – £5,000
- Land Rover Range Rover Evoque – £3,800
- Mazda CX-5 – £3,315
- Volvo XC60 – £3,310
- Hyundai Tucson – £3,300
- Mercedes-Benz C-Class – £3,225
- BMW 3 Series – £2,950
- Jaguar XF – £2,850
- BMW 1 Series – £2,825
- MINI Countryman – £2,800
CEO Le Etta Pearce told Car Dealer: ‘In a surprising turn of events, Toyota has broken into Dealer Auction’s top 10 profit-turning brands for the first time.
‘This achievement underscores the growing appeal of mainstream brands like Toyota, with models such as RAV4, Auris, Aygo, and Yaris driving healthy sales and margins.
‘Amidst shifting market dynamics, savvy dealers are leveraging smart data insights to focus on models that not only sell quickly but also yield substantial profits, showcasing the resilience and adaptability of the industry.’
Top 10 most profitable manufacturers
Source: Dealer Auction Retail Margin Monitor, October
- Land Rover – £4,250
- BMW – £3,200
- Volvo – £3,000
- Mercedes-Benz – £2,950
- Audi – £2,925
- MINI – £2,600
- Mazda – £2,425
- Kia – £2,355
- Volkswagen – £2,350
- Toyota – £2,300
Dealer Auction’s Marketplace Director, Kieran TeeBoon added: ‘Q4 has gotten off to a tricky start with this realignment of used car prices, but our data shows there are several models that meet dealers’ objectives of profit and speed-to-sell.
‘Amid the current climate where dealers are facing pressure from different directions, it’s up to them to really zero in on those profit-making models they know customers are looking to buy right now.’
This week Cap HPI issued a warning that prices were dropping fast in November. They said there had been a call of 1.5% in the first few days of the month.
That drop is off the back of a 4.2% fall in October, described as the worst performance for 12 years.
Richard Walker, Director of Data & Insight at Auto Trader added: ‘Our data shows that although used retail prices are beginning to decline, the headline figure is masking a highly nuanced market.
‘While newer car retail prices are contracting due to the combination of improving supply and renewed pressure from new car offers, older vehicles continue to record very strong price growth.
‘In such a nuanced market, those who place emphasis on data driven decisions can feel confident about the robust margins available.’
