Used car market falls despite electric boost

Some 407,820 fewer vehicles changed hands compared with the same period last year, although the scale of this decline was artificially inflated by comparison with 2021 when the easing of Covid restrictions saw the busiest second quarter since records began. By comparison, Q2 2022 was -13.5% behind pre-pandemic 2019.

The ongoing shortage of semiconductors continued to impact new car market supply, with a knock-on effect on used transactions. Declines were recorded each month, with falls in April, May and June of -16.8%, -20.9% and -18.6% respectively. As a result, the market is down -8.3% year to date compared to 2021, and -12.8% compared to pre-pandemic 2019.

However, battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales rose 57.1% to reach 16,782 units, doubling market share to 1.0%, while plug-in hybrids held relatively stable with 1.0% growth and 0.9% of the market. Hybrids (HEVs), meanwhile, declined by -4.0% with 2.4% of the market. As a result, used petrol and diesel vehicles remained dominant, totalling 1,682,280 units and accounting for 95.6% of sales.

Reflecting the new car market, the most popular segment types were supermini (31.4%), lower medium (26.5%) and dual purpose (14.7%). Black cars proved the most popular, accounting for more than one in five (21.5%) sales, followed by blue and grey. Pink cars proved the least popular overall, comprising 1,135 units.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “It was inevitable that the squeeze on new car supply would filter through to the used market.” He continued: “Used car buyers clearly have a growing appetite for the latest low and zero emission cars and we need a thriving new car market to feed it.”, stressing that: “The next Prime Minister must create the conditions to drive consumer confidence, especially in EVs”, in order to: “meet our decarbonisation goals.”