AUTO TRADER FASTEST SELLING CARS

Mitsubishi Outlander conquers diesel despair to become August’s fastest selling used car

• 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander leads the podium, taking an average of 17 days to sell
• Big is best as MPVs and SUVs dominate used car market
• i-Control users enjoy 54% improvement on stock turn in August 2018

28^th September 2018 – London: Auto Trader, the UK’s largest marketplace for new and used cars, has revealed that the 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander (diesel automatic) was on average, the UK’s fastest selling used car last month, taking just 17 days to leave dealers’ forecourts.

Big was clearly best in August, with MPVs and SUVs dominating both the national top 10 list, and the regional trackers. As the UK prepares itself for the autumn and winter months, six SUVs/MPVs made the national top 10, and topped the six of the 13 countries and regions tracked, including: the South West (2015 Ford Kuga diesel manual – 33 days), Wales (2017 Nissan Qashqai diesel manual– 29 days), South England (2015 Hyundai ix35 diesel manual – 17 days), Northern Ireland (2015 Nissan Qashqai Hatchback diesel manual– 31 days), London (2015 Vauxhall Mokka petrol automatic– 11 days), North East (2015 Nissan Juke diesel manual– 21 days).

Whilst July’s fastest selling used car, the Renault Zoe, was knocked off the top spot in August, the all-electric hatchback still came a very respectable second place, with the 2016 automatic taking an average of 19 days to sell.

Karolina Edwards-Smajda, Auto Trader’s Director of Commercial Products, said: “To once again be amongst the top three fastest selling used cars in the UK is a huge achievement for the Renault Zoe, and an important bellwether of the improving consumer attitude towards alternatively fuelled vehicles. This is evident elsewhere on our marketplace; last month AFVs represented five per cent of all fuel related searches, which was a record high.”

Hitting targets will always be determined by how quickly a retailer can turn their stock around and using data is the key to speeding it up. Users of i-Control, Auto Trader’s data management solution, took an average of just 29 days to sell a car in August, compared to a market average of 64 - 54% faster than those that don’t use the data management tool.

Karolina continued: “The key to success in what is an increasingly challenging market, is the ability to respond to consumer demand, whether that be a trend towards alternatively fuelled vehicles or seasonal demand for SUVs or MPVs. Complementing your own experience with real-time data can ensure your forecourt reflects these trends in consumer demand and can also help you price stock according to the live retail market, helping you sell more cars, more quickly, and for more profit.”

The UK’s Top 10 Fastest Selling Used Cars in August 2018:

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About i-Control:

i-Control is Auto Trader’s data intelligence solutions, which tracks live market movements, recommends what stock to buy, where to find it, how much to pay for it, and how much to sell it for taking into account regional differences in desirability – and is proven to improve stock turn, as we’ve seen, by 54%.

Using a combination of daily guide prices from over 4,500 dealer websites, the 500,000+ ads on Auto Trader and price data from all major auctions, fleet & lease companies and manufacturers, i-Control provides accurate valuations ensuring retailers’ stock is competitively priced from day one.

About Auto Trader

Auto Trader Group plc is the UK and Ireland’s largest digital automotive marketplace. Auto Trader sits at the heart of the UK’s vehicle buying process and its primary activity is to help vehicle retailers compete effectively on the marketplace in order to sell more vehicles, faster. Auto Trader listed on the London Stock Exchange in March 2015 and is now a member of the FTSE 250 Index.

The marketplace brings together the largest and most engaged consumer audience. Auto Trader has over 88% prompted brand awareness and attracts an average of 55 million monthly cross platform visits a month, with circa 70% of visits coming through mobile devices.

The marketplace also has the largest pool of vehicle sellers (listing more than 470,000 cars each day). Over 80% of UK automotive retailers advertise on autotrader.co.uk.

For more information, please visit http://about-us.autotrader.co.uk