NFDA optimistic for used car growth

The National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) is predicting further growth for the used car market in 2024, after new figures revealed sales growth of 5.1% last year.

Sales were up 6.9% in the last quarter alone, to 1,679,116 transactions.

Across the year, used battery electric vehicles sale surged by 90.9% while plug-in hybrids were up 25.1% and hybrids increased by 40%.

Sue Robinson, chief executive of the NFDA, said: “2023 proved to be a healthy year for the used car market, seeing four straight quarters of growth and growth of 5.1% on 2022.

“With 2023 also seeing consecutive months of growth in the new car market, it is positive to see this proliferating into the used car market.

“Of note is the strong performance of used electric which reached record levels and have increased their market share from four per cent in 2022 to 5.6% of the market in 2023. Used EVs are a key component in the transition to electric. It will become inevitable that the used EV market expands in the next couple of years as more new electric cars are registered and as smaller lower cost EVs hit the roads the used growth will become exponential.

“Ultimately, these figures are a positive sign for the year ahead, and the used car market has gathered considerable momentum through what has been a challenging period. With supply issues easing, we can expect franchised dealers to continue to see strong demand in the used car segment in 2024 driven by a combination of consumer demand and the increasing choice of models on offer.”