Average used EV prices down 16.8% year-on-year

Despite robust levels of consumer demand (up 56% year-on-year), used electric vehicles (EVs) were the only fuel type not to record price growth in April, according to the latest data from Auto Trader.

Average used EV prices dipped by 0.1% month-on-month and are now down 16.8% year-on-year (£27,884). In contrast, both petrol (£14,955) and diesel (£14,659) used cars saw average prices rise 1.4% compared to March and are down by 5.7% year-on-year.

Highlighting how nuanced the used car market remains, the average price of 1–3-year-old EVs rose 2.5% on March, while petrol cars of the same age increased 2.3%.

It marks the first month-on-month increase for EVs of this age since October, and the largest monthly growth since January 2022.

Top 10 used car price contraction (all fuel types) | April 2024 vs April 2023 like-for-like

Return to seasonal norms

Auto Trader’s Retail Price Index, which is based on 800,000 daily pricing observations, shows that the overall monthly growth is in line with traditional seasonal patterns.

Every year since Auto Trader began tracking used car prices in 2011, April has recorded growth following the March plate change. Although slightly behind the pre-Covid average of around 2.2%, it offers a positive sign of the market returning to historic norms.

Although retail prices remain down by 9.3% on 2023, the month-on-month uptick is being fuelled by favourable market dynamics, suggests Auto Trader.

Indeed, while the volume of used cars entering the market fell 1.1% year-on-year last month, the first contraction in supply levels since the summer, consumer demand on Auto Trader was up around 9%, which is the highest rate of growth since December.

The strong demand is reflected by the speed in which used cars were sold. It took an average of just 27 days for a used car to leave retailers’ forecourts in April, which is one day slower than March (the fastest pace ever recorded), but two days faster than the same period last year.   

As well as helping to stabilise retail prices, the very robust consumer demand in the market, which has remained constant since the New Year, is also driving sales. According to Auto Trader’s data, used car transactions increased around 6.3% year-on-year in April.

Rachael Jones, Auto Trader’s automotive finance director, said: “We saw a strong start to the year, and based on what we can see in the market, it’s continuing confidently into the second quarter.

“Demand is robust, cars are selling quickly, and more are being sold. Average retail prices remain down year-on-year, but April’s month-on-month growth is a positive sign of the market returning to seasonal norms and stabilising.

“The market also remains incredibly nuanced, and a granular view reveals some particularly promising trends, particularly within the 1–3-year-old electric segment.”

Top 10 used car price growth (all fuel types) | April 2024 vs April 2023 like-for-like

First-quarter Dealer Auction figures

More than a quarter of a million bids were logged on Dealer Auction in the first quarter of 2024 – a 19% increase on figures for the tail end of 2023.

Both sales performance and days to sell held strong. The total number of auctions during the three months increased to 34,000, 1,000 more than at the end of 2023.

Average days to sell were comparable between the quarters (4.0 to 4.1), while CAP clean performance nosed in front of the previous quarter by more than 1%.

An upswing in the age and mileage of vehicles sold on Dealer Auction in the first quarter highlights market conditions and the continuing scarcity of younger cars.

In the same period last year, the average mileage for a vehicle listed was 67,744 miles with an age of 8.7 years. This year’s Q1 figures are 72,832 miles and 9.2 years – an increase of 7.5% and 5.7% respectively.

Kieran TeeBoon, Dealer Auction’s marketplace director, thinks uncertainty around stock availability, cost-of-living pressures and pricing may mean that, as is supported by observations elsewhere in the market, fleets and consumers are hanging onto cars for longer, pushing averages up.

He said: “It’s been a largely positive start to 2024 with a considerable rise in the number of auctions ending and more than 253,000 bids placed. We saw a marked increase in vehicles listed and active buyers versus Q4 too.

“The statistics tell an interesting story about the continued scarcity of younger vehicles filtering into the used market.

“More than three million fewer vehicles than expected were registered in the UK between March 2020 and the end of 2023 and we’re now feeling the impact of that volume loss in the used market.”

Other notable statistics on Dealer Auction for the first 91 days of 2024 include a 3% drop in the number of diesels sold.

Meanwhile, there’s been a shift in alternatively fuelled vehicle sales numbers – hybrids have jumped by almost 3% while EVs have decreased by more than 2% compared to the first quarter of 2023.

TeeBoon said: “A jump in sales for hybrids shows that eco-friendly vehicles are increasingly, albeit slowly, making their mark on the used market.”