Sales of used cars by the Top 200 most-stocked car dealers jumped by over 3.5 per cent last month, latest figures shows.

Data compiled for Car Dealer by CarCondor.co.uk reveals that the Top 200 car dealers in the UK sold 163,358 cars in May.

It was a substantial 3.53 per cent rise on April’s 157,790.

May was still lower than March 2022’s 172,547 figure, however.

Revenue was up too by 2.38 per cent on April. May’s figure totalled £3.35bn compared to April’s £3.27bn.

May continued the trend for fewer cars bought as stock by the Top 200 car dealers, however, underlining retailers were making stronger margins on less stock.

The month saw 148,671 used cars purchased by dealers to fill out their forecourts – a 5.13 per cent fall on April’s 156,718.

April was already down a considerable 19.22 per cent on March.

Sales were up across the board across all dealer types, with franchise dealers seeing a three per cent increase, independents at 4.85 per cent and supermarkets at just under three per cent.

Glasgow-based Arnold Clark remained in pole position in the Top 200 list, with an average of 26,840 used cars on its books – a figure compiled across its franchised and used car sites.

There was also no-change for online used car dealer Cinch as it stayed in second place.

In May, Cinch had an average of 10,908 cars in stock.

The Constellation Automotive Group-owned operation was just ahead of Marshall – which is currently undergoing a £325m buy-out by Constellation – which had an average of 8,768 cars.

Pendragon-owned Evans Halshaw also remained in fourth place with an average 7,947 cars in stock, while Bristol Street Motors jumped from tenth in April’s list to fifth place in May with 7,831.

Sytner slipped to sixth with an average of 7,674 and Cazoo remained in seventh place with 7,135.

Inchcape (6,625), CarShop (6,485) and Lookers (6,171) rounded out the top 10.

The exclusive list can be viewed by members of the Car Dealer website. Sign in with your name and email address to view it instantly, and to access even more used car data about your dealership on the CarCondor.co.uk website.

The best-selling used car, as usual, was the Ford Fiesta, while the fastest-selling used car was the Nissan Note – previously it was the MG 3.

The full 200-strong list can be viewed below. If you’re not a Car Dealer member, sign up now to get immediate access.