SUVS WERE THE MOST POPULAR USED CAR MODELS IN 2019 REPORTS INDICATA

Motorists continued their love affair with the SUV in 2019. According to research by INDICATA the SUV was the most in demand used car model with motor dealers in 2019.

Its real-time used car pricing portal saw more than one in four (26.6%) of used cars sold in December were SUVs, with small hatchbacks as the second most popular which accounted for 20.4% of used cars sold.

Reinforcing SUV’s popularity, dealer stocking days for smaller models like the Hyundai Tucson and Ford EcoSport fell to just 35 days in April and May, and in nine out of 12 months the INDICATA used car portal registered it as the fastest-selling used car segment.

With average used stock age increasing in December to 4.9 years dealers ended the year with older used cars on the forecourt, having sold their younger faster-selling used stock during October and November.

Dealer stock turn in 2019 remained consistent at seven days, reinforcing what a strong year it was for used cars, with the majority of dealers predicting another buoyant year in 2020.

During December the overall supply of all used stock in the market rose to 57 days in December, a 12-month high.

That compares with February where stock supply reached a 12-month low of just 43 days thanks to a high seasonal demand.

Neil Gilligan, Indicata UK’s business development manager said: “The popularity of SUVs has been fuelled by the volume of smaller, affordable used SUVs reaching the used market.

“Consumers who would normally spend £10,000 on a family hatchback or saloon suddenly realised they could afford to buy a smaller SUV instead.

“2019 was definitely the year of the used car with dealers investing more time, money and management resource on this area of their business.

“We anticipate 2020 will be an equally strong year following feedback from our independent and franchised dealer customers,” he added.