Auto Trader names UK’s fastest-selling model

The UK’s fastest-selling car for May has been revealed.

According to data published by Auto Trader, the Peugeot 208 up to one-year-old finds a buyer within 11 days of retailers making it available.

Across the whole market, the average sales time for used cars is 28 days, which is still three days faster than May last year.

However, while alternatively fuelled vehicles dominated the top 10 during April, there is just one EV within the list this month; the Jaguar I-PACE (5-10 years), which is currently taking an average of 13 days to sell. Looking at all EVs, average sales times are now 29 days compared to 31 days in April, although used EVs aged three to five-years are sold on average within 24 days.

This is backed up by demand witnessed on the Auto Trader platform, with searches for EVs up by 55%.

Looking at age segments, used cars between three and five years are selling in 24 days while older vehicles between 10 and 15 years are taking 30 days to sell.

Richard Walker, Auto Trader’s data and insights director, said: “The speed at which used cars sell is a key indicator of the underlying strength of the market. Since the new year, we’ve tracked very robust levels of consumer demand, and whilst the average speed of sale has softened slightly on the record pace we saw in March, the market continues to carry some real momentum behind it.

“Cars are selling faster than last year, retail prices are stabilising, and importantly, with average sales up over six per cent in April, more cars are also being sold. Recent green shoots in the economy point to very stable months ahead for the used car market.”