en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) recently released data showing that the UK used car market recorded 2,016,232 transactions in the first quarter of this year, a marginal year-on-year decline of just 0.2%. This performance ended a previous run of 12 consecutive quarters of growth, reflecting a weak March where transactions fell by 2.3%.
Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) transactions grew by 32.0%, reaching 86,943 units, meaning nearly 1 in every 23 buyers (4.3%) opted for a BEV, up from around 1 in 30 last year. Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) sales rose by 27.6% to 128,039 units, with market share climbing to 6.4%; while Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) transactions fell by 8.9% to 20,021 units, accounting for 1.0% of the market. Overall, electrified vehicles represented 11.7% of all used car handovers in the first quarter.
Petrol remained the best-selling fuel type, although transactions dipped 0.6% to 1,147,969 units; diesel demand fell by 6.7% to 629,987 units. Traditional internal combustion engine vehicles still accounted for 88.2% of total Q1 transactions. Supermini sales decreased by 1.0%, but at 648,229 units, they remained the most popular used car segment, holding a 32.2% market share. Lower Medium cars recorded 546,249 transactions, a 0.2% increase. Multi-purpose vehicles saw the highest growth, rising 5.4% to 357,295 units.
The average age of vehicles in the UK has now reached a new high of 9.7 years, up from 8 years in 2019. The SMMT noted that a healthy new car market is crucial for generating used car supply, especially for the latest electric models. Although the latest industry new car outlook forecasts market growth of 3.6% to 2.093 million units this year, the BEV share forecast has been revised down from 28.5% to 26.8% due to a weak first quarter performance.
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