• New Cars
    • First Impressions
    • Road Tests
  • Classics
    • Classic Profiles
    • Classic Driving Impressions
    • Classics Information
    • Events and Days Out
  • Motoring For Fun
  • News & Views
  • Bookshelf
  • Technical
    • Grumpy Old Mechanic
    • Kim’s Tips
  • Features
    • Visits
    • Track Days
  • Contributors
    • About our contributors
    • Kim Henson
    • Chris Adamson
    • Kieron Fennelly
    • Ant Henson
    • Rachel Henson
    • David Miles
    • Gerald Morgan
    • Dave Moss
    • Dave Randle
    • Robin Roberts
    • Tom Scanlan
    • Glen Smale
    • Jeremy Walton
    • Keith Ward
    • John Price Williams
  • More…
    • About Wheels Alive
    • Tips for using this website
    • Useful Links

Wheels Alive

Old cars, new cars, borrowed cars & blue cars. If it steers it's here!

Old cars, new cars, borrowed cars & blue cars. If it steers it's here!

Privacy & Cookies: This site uses cookies. By continuing to use this website, you agree to their use.
To find out more, including how to control cookies, see here: Cookie Policy

Used Car Sales on the increase…

Author/Source: Robin Roberts

13th November 2019

Ford’s Fiesta was the UK’s top-seller again in the most recent sales figures (released by the SMMT) for used cars…

Robin Roberts reports on the latest sales figures for secondhand cars in Britain…

The SMMT said used car sales rose 0.9% in Q3 after nine quarters of decline.

Some 2,076,382 transactions took place between July and September, 18,925 more than the same period in 2018.
Demand for diesel models was up 1.4% in the quarter with 858,442 changing hands, while petrol sales were flat with a slight drop of -0.2%.

Plug-in electric and hybrid models showed a solid increase of 13.0%, totalling 37,589 units and increasing their share of sales to 1.8% from 1.6% in Q3 2018.
Superminis remained the most popular segment, reflecting the trend in the new car market, with 684,929 changing hands, accounting for 33.0% of transactions. The lower medium and upper medium segments were the next most popular, with 27.0% and 11.7% shares respectively. Meanwhile, the dual purpose segment showed the largest percentage growth (15.2%) with 11.6% market share.

This means more than 6.1m used cars have been sold this year and plug-in electric and hybrid models showed a solid increase.
Seán Kemple, Director of Sales at Close Brothers Motor Finance, said, “As the motor industry battles economic slowdown, stagnating growth in used car registrations continue to reflect shaky consumer confidence. But while new car sales have had a tough year, this has been to the benefit of the used market as buyers look to cut costs.

“Demand for used alternative fuel vehicles is firmly in the fast lane as drivers are embracing greener options. Small and mid-size models are also on the up, with models like the MINI and Ford Focus popular in the used market. And whilst new diesel sales are rapidly approaching cliff-edge, there is no sign of used diesel demand hitting the brakes as it continues to perform steadily.

James Fairclough, CEO at AA Cars, added,“The new car market’s loss is proving the used market’s gain.
“As new car sales shrink, these robust used sales figures show many buyers are being strategic, and are seizing on the wide range – and quality – of second-hand cars currently for sale.

Supply is healthy and prices are often very competitive, with many dealer forecourts bristling with nearly-new models – which can offer strong value and are proving particularly popular.”

Most popular used models were: Fiesta, Corsa, Focus, Golf, Astra, BMW 3 Series, MINI, Polo, Audi A3 and BMW 1 Series.

Save Post as PDF

Categories: News & Views, Robin Roberts

Tip: For improved search accuracy, enclose search terms for multiple words in quotation marks. For example:
"Land Rover".

Advertise with us

Recent Posts

A summer of fun at Beaulieu

Lakeland Motor Museum kicks off the start of The Club Triumph Coast 2 Coast Run

The Motor Ombudsman marks nearly one million contacts as ADR Regulations reach a decade of service

INEOS Grenadier ups its game with portal axle collaboration

New Chief Executive Officer for The British Motor Museum

Legacy of Austin pedal cars honoured with Blue Plaque at original factory site in Bargoed

Kia EV3 GT Line S – Road Test

National Motor Museum to take Sunbeam 350hp Blue Bird to Wales for the World Land Speed Record centenary

Contributors

contributors

Our well-respected contributors live and breathe motor cars; aren’t we lucky?

Contributors to the site include talented, highly-respected people (so they tell me) on the hallowed membership list of the Guild of Motoring Writers, and from the similarly well thought-of Western Group of Motoring Writers. In addition there are valued contributions from other knowledgeable and capable motoring writers who have something useful to say about all aspects of driving and running vehicles in the 21st Century. All of our team are passionate about motor cars!


Read about our contributors  ››

Tags

National Motor Museum crossover Estate car EV SUV luxury SUV Suzuki five door hatchback The Motor Ombudsman large SUV all-electric Tyres Beaulieu hatchback MPV Kia saloon PHEV First Impressions estate plug-in hybrid 4x4 road test Compact SUV Electric City car Hybrid Coupé British Motor Museum Seven seater SUV

All Tags ››

Like us on Facebook

Like us on Facebook

Wheels Alive Social

  • E-mail
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Please share our website

Contact us

We welcome your questions, comments and feedback. Please click here to contact us.

Advertising Opportunities

Please contact us if you would like to discuss advertising opportunities on Wheels Alive.

Copyright © 2025 Kim Henson, Wheels Alive