2013 saw the lowest first-quarter retail sales volume for used cars since 2005, although electric vehicles (EVs) and 4x4s have performed well according to the quarterly Used Car Sales Index by credit reference agency Experian.
A total of 1,653,668 used cars were sold in Q1 2013, a year-on-year drop of 5.06% from the three-year high for first-quarter used sales in 2012, at a time when sales in the new market increased by 7.39% year-on-year to 605,198.
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Alternatively-fuelled used vehicles saw growth in excess of new counterparts. Petrol-electric hybrids were up 13.19% year-on-year for Q1 to 6,342 sales and EVs were up 13.69% to 930 sales, compared to 1.39% growth in new alternatively-fuelled vehicles to 8,439 units.
By segment, while specialist sports and upper medium models saw drops of 10.4% and 10.1%, respectively, in sales volume, 4×4 sales were up by 7.4% for the quarter.
Andrew Ballard, principle consultant at Experian Automotive, commented: "Our figures show that some categories are consistently performing well even in a challenging environment.
"These trends are important indicators for dealerships when identifying and building the optimum, profitable stock mix."
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By GlobalDatarichard.brown@timetric.com
