The UK’s used car market continued its upward trend in 2024, growing by 5.5% with 7,643,180 cars being sold. This comes from the latest figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Positively, this is the eighth consecutive quarter of growth – a much-needed boost for our industry.
Second-Hand Evs Proving Popular
Used electric vehicles (EVs) saw sales increase by 57.4% to 188,382 units, giving them 2.5% of the market compared to 1.7% in 2023. If you take all electrified vehicles (battery electric, plug-in hybrid, and hybrid), a 43.3% increase in sales can be seen. This equates to 7.7% of all car sales.
This may very soon change though as, from April, new BEVs will be subject to Vehicle Excise Duty and the Expensive Car Supplement (ECS). This could impact the affordability of used EVs in the very near future.
Market Trends:
- Superminis remained the most popular choice of vehicle type, making up 32.3% of sales, followed by lower-medium cars (27.1%) and dual-purpose vehicles (15.9%).
- Black was the most chosen colour, with 1.6 million transactions (21.3%), followed by grey (17.6%) and blue (16.2%).
- Turquoise cars saw the biggest percentage rise (+11.2%), while grey cars had the largest volume increase, up by 117,000 units.
Fuel Types
Despite the rise in EVs, petrol and diesel still accounted for 92.1% of all used car transactions:
- Petrol sales increased by 6.8%, holding a 57.1% share.
- Diesel sales fell by 2.4%, now representing 35% of the market.
“The used car sector’s 25-month growth streak is good news for fleet renewal and for consumers benefitting from the greater choice filtering through from the new market. Record sales of second hand EVs also demonstrates strong appetite for these cutting-edge cars at lower price points. Ensuring ongoing growth, however, means maintaining that affordability, along with supply, which requires meaningful fiscal incentives to stimulate consumer demand for new EVs and removing the VED expensive car tax disincentive that risks dragging down used EV affordability for years to come.”
Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive
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