Used car sales for the UK’s Top 200 dealers fell by more than 4% in February, new analysis reveals.

Figures from used car data providers CarCondor.co.uk shows the Top 200 dealers in the UK sold 181,120 cars last month compared to the 189,744 shifted in January. February’s figures were in sharp contrast to the previous month which showed sales had jumped by over 71% on December 2023’s figures.

New stock rose by 4.02% on January’s numbers to 165,905, however, showing dealers have been stocking up but selling fewer cars.

Revenue fell in February by 4.65% to £3.59bn, likely as a consequence of dealers’ activities of growing their stock profiles.

All dealer types saw a decline in sales during the month, with franchise seeing the largest fall at nearly 5%, followed by used car supermarkets at 4% and independents at 1.94%.

Dealers with the largest inventories, classed as 5,000-plus, experienced the biggest slump in sales at 10.57%, followed by the 1,000-4,999 group at -7.18%.

Dealers with stock size between 500 and 999 units saw a sizeable 8.12% increase in sales in February, while dealers with 0-499 stocked cars saw a 0.52% uplift.

Arnold Clark remains the most stocked dealer in the Top 200 list, with an average stock inventory of 18,645 cars in February.

There was no change in the top three from January 2024, with Evans Halshaw and Sytner in second and third places with 7,797 and 6,945 cars in stock, respectively.

The Ford Fiesta remained the best-selling used car for the Top 200 dealers.

The full list of the most stocked Top 200 dealers can be viewed below – members of the Car Dealer website can access the data as part of their membership.