12:44 pm, August 11, 2023

The Range Rover Evoque has retained its title as the highest retail margin car sold by used car dealers in July, according to new data from Dealer Auction.

It was a considerable margin ahead of others in the top 10, with an average retail margin of £3,510 although this was below last month’s £3,800.

The Mazda CX-5 also retained its title with a speedy 22 days to sell, down from last month’s 25 days.

Following this as the fastest selling models were the Kia Sportage and Citroen Grand C4 Picasso with 28 and 29 days respectively.

The data compares the prices dealers’ are buying at trade with data from Auto Trader retail prices.

Scroll down to read the list of the top cars by average retail margin below.

Dealer Auction’s marketplace director Kieran TeeBoon said: ‘The arrival of three affordable family cars this month may well be down to the summer break and families swapping their cars for something better suited to a week by the seaside.

‘Our league table once again demonstrates why staying up to date with consumer trends like these has its benefits and can help dealers make educated predictions about the stock their customers are looking for.

‘Basically, how to make high-profit sales as fast as possible.’

Richard Walker, director of Data & Insights at Auto Trader, added: ‘Supply is slowly beginning to return to the used car market and we’re seeing high levels of demand absorbing this with visits to Auto Trader up 17 per cent on 2022 in July. With good use of data, cars sell quickly.

‘We’re seeing cars aged 5-10 years sell in just 28 days and solid demand is also reflected in the volume of used car transactions, up over 4 per cent on Q2 2022.

‘These market dynamics mean there’s plenty of profit opportunities out there for retailers who stay close to the data.’

Top 10 brands by average retail margin

Source: Dealer Auction Retail Margin Monitor

Land Rover – £3,580
BMW – £3,000
Mercedes-Benz – £2,670
Audi – £2,640
Volvo -£2,620
Mini – £2,430
Nissan – £2,365
Kia – £2,360
Volkswagen – £2,221
Seat – £2,133

Just outside the top 10 for brands was Citroen at number 11.

Teboon commented: ‘We can speculate that Citroen’s position at brand level – so close to the top 10 – will have been greatly affected by the Grand C4 Picasso’s high sales margin and rating in July.

‘If anything, this is a reminder to consider all factors, including average margins, the Auto Trader Retail Rating and average days to sell, when seeking out the best profit opportunities.

‘And if we circle back to the Mazda CX-5, it’s the perfect example of using the available tools to identify potential top-selling models before the month even begins – helping dealers fill their forecourt for profit.’