• 2014 Kia Sorento is the UK’s fastest selling used car according to Auto Trader’s live market data
• Used car demand up 21.1% year-on-year in the week commencing 14^th September
• BMW 3 Series sees highest month-on-month price increase

The 2014 Kia Sorento (diesel manual) has been revealed as the UK’s current fastest selling used car taking just 24 days to sell at the moment.

Data from Auto Trader’s Fastest Selling Index, which live tracks the potential speed at which vehicles will sell based on live supply and demand in the market, showed that demand for SUVs is still holding strong. The Sorento was joined by six of its SUV stable mates on the top ten fastest selling list. These include last month’s fastest selling car, the Mazda CX-5 (2016 diesel manual – taking 25 days to sell), Kia Sorento (2014 diesel automatic – 25 days), Peugeot 2008 (2014 diesel manual – 26 days), Mazda CX-5 (2016 diesel automatic, 28 days), Kia Sportage (2014 petrol manual – 29 days) and Mercedes-Benz GLA (2019 petrol manual – 30 days).

The enduring popularity of SUVs was further supported by data from Auto Trader’s Market Insight tool, which is available for free to all of Auto Trader’s retail partners via their Portal account, which revealed that demand for SUVs was up 33.4% year-on-year, higher than any other body type.

Whilst SUVs continue to be the star of the show, the broader market for used cars continues to see a surge in demand increasing by 21.1% year-on-year in the week commencing 14^th September. All body types are also currently experiencing an increase in demand. This level of demand has contributed to 20 weeks of consecutive price growth for used cars. In the week 14th – 20th September, our pricing data revealed average prices increased by 7.7% year-on-year.

On a make/model level, the BMW 3 Series (petrol manual) saw the largest month-on-month price increase with asking prices of 1-3 year old vehicles in Sport trim soaring by 23.3%. Petrol vehicles dominated the list of top ten month-on-month price increases with the BMW 3 Series being joined by the Audi A3 S line (up to 1 year old petrol manual) increasing in price by 20%, whilst the Nissan Juke Tekna (up to one year old petrol manual) increased by 16.1%, Vauxhall Grandland Elite Nav (up to one year old petrol manual) increased by 16.1%, Renault Captur Iconic (up to one year old petrol manual) increased by 11.3%, Fiat Tipo Easy (up to 1-3 year old petrol manual) increased by 9.8%, and finally the Hyundai i10 Premium (up to one year old petrol manual) increased by 9% since last month.

Commenting on the Index, Auto Trader’s director of commercial products, Karolina Edwards-Smajda, said: “The sustained consumer demand coupled with decreasing days to sell is supporting the continued price growth, which all points to a healthy market at the moment. Whilst all demand metrics point to healthy used car sales, few retailers can afford to be complacent. Retailers should capitalise on the huge demand by utilising the most up-to-date data to help them make decisions on what to stock and how to price it, which is especially key at a time when sourcing stock is a challenge.”

Current fastest selling used cars (by days to turn) – as of 23^rd September 2020:

Current slowest selling used cars (by days to turn) – as of 23^rd September 2020:

Biggest asking price increase between August – September 2020: