MOTORISTS continued their love affair with the SUV in 2019, according to new research.

Business intelligence and market insight software specialist Indicata, which drew on data from some 2,000 dealers, said the SUV was the most in-demand used car model with motor dealers last year.

It reported 90,000 used cars sold in December and 1.05m for the whole of 2019, with its real-time used car pricing portal seeing SUVs making up more than one in four (26.6 per cent) of used cars sold last month, with small hatchbacks as the second most popular, accounting for 20.4 per cent of used cars sold.

Reinforcing the popularity of SUVs, dealer stocking days for smaller models such as the Hyundai Tucson, pictured, and Ford EcoSport fell to just 35 days in April and May, while in nine out of 12 months the Indicata used car portal registered it as the fastest-selling used car segment.

Neil Gilligan

With average used stock age increasing in December to 4.9 years, dealers ended the year with older used cars on the forecourt, having sold their younger faster-selling used stock during October and November.

Dealer stock turn in 2019 remained consistent at seven days, reinforcing what a strong year it was for used cars, with the majority of dealers predicting another buoyant year in 2020.

During December, the overall supply of all used stock in the market rose to 57 days – a 12-month high. That compares with February, where stock supply reached a 12-month low of 43 days, thanks to high seasonal demand.

Neil Gilligan, Indicata UK’s business development manager, said: ‘The popularity of SUVs has been fuelled by the volume of smaller, affordable used SUVs reaching the used market. Consumers who would normally spend £10,000 on a family hatchback or saloon suddenly realised they could afford to buy a smaller SUV instead.

‘2019 was definitely the year of the used car, with dealers investing more time, money and management resource on this area of their business. We anticipate 2020 will be an equally strong year, following feedback from our independent and franchised dealer customers.’

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