Both volumes and values in the used car market fell sharply in 2008 according to the 2009 Used Car Market Report from BCA.

Sales of three to five-year-old cars – those typically produced from the fleet sector – fell 3.4% and 67,000 units to 1.88 million.

However, their share of the falling used car market volume rose from 27.6% in 2007 to 28.3% in 2008.

Cars in this age bracket represented 40% of all sales made by dealers, underlining the importance of the fleet and lease sector as a source of cars.

Sales of cars up to two-years-old – also significant in fleet terms - slipped by 1.2% to 978,000 units in 2008; their used car market share up from 14.0% to 14.7% year on year. Cars of this age represented the second largest sector for dealers at 24%.

The report shows that overall market values fell by nearly £1 billion as UK used car volumes fell by 409,000 to 6.7 million units.

In contrast, the private-to-private sector’s share of used car market value rose by £1 billion to £7 billion from the sales of 2.69 million cars.