UK’s favourite used cars

FORD TOPS LIST OF UK’S FAVOURITE USED CARS

• Ford has proved its enduring popularity as its Fiesta and Focus models topped the list of the most popular used cars over the last three years
• Back in black: black cars dominate the used car market making up a fifth (21.5%) of all car sales
• But could brown be the new black? Sales of brown cars have seen the largest upward trend (5.3%), beating purple (3.5%), orange (3.3%) and grey (2.6%)

London, 10 July 2018 – Ford has shown that it’s an enduring favourite among second-hand car buyers as research into used buying trends by AA Cars, the AA’s used car website, reveals that sales of the Focus and Fiesta have topped all other models in the last three years.

The Ford Fiesta has sold more models over the past three years than any other car on the used car portal – and holds a 5.05% share of cars sold over that period. Its larger sibling, the Focus, follows closely behind and accounts for nearly four per cent of all cars sold over the same period.

The Fiesta and the Focus were also among the top three best selling cars on AA Cars in the first quarter of the year, although the Vauxhall Corsa pipped the Focus to second place.

Since 2015, the Honda HR-V has seen a 748% increase in sales – the crossover SUV has seen the biggest surge in popularity over that time period since a second generation of the vehicle was reintroduced to the market in 2015. Meanwhile, the Vauxhall VIVA (591.23%) and Hyundai Tucson (579.55%) also saw notable leaps.

Holding their value both in terms of price and taste level, black cars have overturned the status quo held by white cars over the last few years. Black is back in vogue as black cars now make up more than a fifth (21.5%) of used car transactions, with white and silver cars in second and third place.

Interestingly though, the data shows an increased appetite for less conventional car colours with the sale of used brown cars showing an upward trend of 5.3%. Over the last three years, brown cars have proven to be more popular than other left field colours such as purple (3.5%) and orange (3.3%). The sale of used brown cars is trending more than twice that of the colour grey, coming in at just 2.6%.

It’s important to note that while trends in the used car market tend to mimic buying habits in the new market – as higher availability of certain new models will make their way to used dealerships – they aren’t directly interchangeable.

James Fairclough, CEO of AA Cars comments: “The rise of car finance products ensures that customers are more regularly upgrading to new cars, meaning the flow of nearly new vehicles into second-hand dealerships has boosted the value and quality of stock on sale.

This comprehensive temperature test of the second-hand car market shows that old favourites from Ford, Vauxhall and Nissan continue to dominate market share.

Colour still plays a big determining factor when buyers are choosing a car – it’s not surprising to see black, white and silver vying for the top spot. More popular shades tend to hold residual values better compared to more unusual colours.

However, it is more surprising to see increased appetite for brown cars. Brown has historically been an unpopular choice among car buyers, but more than a 5% increase over a three-year period is notable. On a practical side of things, darker colours do hide blemishes better – which could account for this increased uptake.

While style and make might be the biggest determining factors when shopping around for a car, it’s important that you’re not transfixed by the idea of owning your dream vehicle and overlook other key factors. After all, two used cars might look exactly the same and be in very different condition – if you are set on owning a certain model but you’re worried not everything is as it seems, it’s worth considering a pre-sale vehicle inspection to give you real peace of mind.”

Models

Most Popular

Models that have been bought the most in the last three years based on stock added and removed between 2015 and 2017.

The top 10 most popular models of cars

#	Model	% of total sales
1	Ford Fiesta	5.05%
2	Ford Focus	3.95%
3	Vauxhall Corsa	3.84%
4	Vauxhall Astra	2.99%
5	Nissan Qashqai	2.34%
6	Fiat 500	1.78%
7	Mercedes C Class	1.77%
8	Nissan Juke	1.62%
9	Vauxhall Insignia	1.51%
10	Volkswagen Golf TDi	1.47%
11	Volkswagen Polo	1.43%
12	Audi A3	1.37%
13	Mercedes E Class	1.15%
14	Peugeot 208	1.09%
15	Vauxhall Zafira	1.07%
16	Ford Transit	1.06%
17	Renault Clio	1.06%
18	Mercedes A Class	1.02%
19	Audi A4	0.96%
20	Honda Civic	0.95%

Trending

Models being bought the most in the first quarter of 2018 based on stock that had been added and removed from the site in that time.

#	Model	% of total sales in 2018 Q1
1	Ford Fiesta	4.27%
2	Vauxhall Corsa	3.56%
3	Ford Focus	3.39%
4	Vauxhall Astra	2.76%
5	Nissan Qashqai	2.59%
6	Mercedes C Class	1.87%
7	Nissan Juke	1.85%
8	Fiat 500	1.82%
9	Vauxhall Mokka	1.64%
10	Mercedes A Class	1.59%
11	Volkswagen Golf TDi	1.46%
12	Volkswagen Polo	1.45%
13	Vauxhall Insignia	1.44%
14	Audi A3	1.38%
15	Mercedes E Class	1.23%
16	Ford Transit	1.09%
17	Renault Clio	1.04%
18	Ford Kuga	1.03%
19	Kia Sportage	0.99%
20	Volkswagen Golf	0.98%

Sales Increase

Models that have seen a particular increase in sales (% increase since 3 years ago).

#	Model	% increase from 2015 to 2017
1	Honda HR-V	748.13%
2	Vauxhall VIVA	591.23%
3	Hyundai Tucson	579.55%
4	Suzuki Celerio	392.58%
5	BMW 220	349.32%
6	Jeep Renegade	329.66%
7	Mercedes GLA	315.05%
8	Dacia Sandero	294.64%
9	MINI Paceman	254.59%
10	Peugeot 2008	233.65%
11	Ford EcoSport	230.20%
12	BMW M4	226.42%
13	Peugeot 108	214.85%
14	BMW 435	187.86%
15	BMW 420	186.48%
16	Vauxhall GTC	134.74%
17	Abarth 595	132.90%
18	Vauxhall ADAM	126.77%
19	Smart ForFour	123.95%
20	Renault Captur	122.16%

Colours

Most Popular

List of the car colours that have been bought the most/least in the last three years. These are normalised from specific manufacturer colour names.

#	Colour	% of total sales
1	Black	21.47%
2	White	19.54%
3	Silver	16.71%
4	Blue	13.98%
5	Grey	13.29%
6	Red	10.74%
7	Green	1.06%
8	Brown	0.67%
9	Orange	0.57%
10	Yellow	0.50%
11	Beige	0.44%
12	Purple	0.35%
13	Bronze	0.22%
14	Gold	0.20%
15	Cream	0.12%
16	Pink	0.07%
17	Maroon	0.04%
18	Turquoise	0.04%

Trending

Colours being bought the most in the first quarter of 2018 based on stock that had been added and removed from the site in that time.

#	Colour	% of total sales
1	Black	21.35%
2	White	21.03%