“The first quarter of 2024 has seen a period of remarkable growth in the used car market with a 6.5% increase, marking the best start to a year since 2019”, said Sue Robinson, Chief Executive of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), commenting on the latest SMMT’s used car figures.
The UK’s used car market has grown by 6.5% in the first quarter of 2024, with 1,967,923 transactions occurring through January, February, and March. The increase marks 16 months of successive growth and the strongest start to a year since pre-pandemic 2019.
Used battery electric vehicles (BEVs) saw sales up by more than two thirds, with an increase of 71.0% to 41,505 posting a new record market share of 2.1%. Plug-in hybrids also experienced robust growth rising by 42.5% to 22,065. Hybrids increased by a considerable 49.3% to 74,502.
Petrol and diesel still make up the majority of used car sales, accounting for 92.9% of the market share. Petrol transactions stood at 1,130,396 units, a 7.7% rise, whilst diesel witnessed a slight contraction (-1.3%) with 697,718 units sold.
Sue Robinson added: “it is testament to the resilience of the automotive industry with both new and used car markets seeing continuous growth and signalling a gradual return to pre-pandemic levels.
“Notably, strong performances can be seen in the used BEV market which continue to grow as more electric cars enter the used sector. There are encouraging signs as BEVs see a new record market share.
The used EV market will be crucial in the transition to zero emission motoring and NFDA reiterates that increasing consumer confidence through incentives and improving charging infrastructure is key. In the summer, NFDA will be polling consumers on several of these issues in our Consumer Attitude Survey.
“The used market figures, signal a strong start to 2024 and dealers’ ability to sell used EVs, carrying over the momentum of the previous year despite economic and political challenges.
“As we enter Q2, the recovering supply in the new car market should give added impetus to the used car market in the coming months.”
