DEMAND DRIVES SOARING PRICES
USED car prices rose by more than 30 per cent last month to an average of £17,816 — with some increasing by more than 50 per cent when comparing like for like.
The biggest top-ten price jumper year-on-year in December was the Seat Alhambra, now costing an average £19,038, the Auto Trader retail price index reveals.
It was followed by: the Renault Grand Scenic (average £10,152), Skoda Octavia (£16,826), Ford S-Max (£15,142), Skoda Yeti (£12,739), Ford Focus (£15,475), Land Rover Defender 110 (£81,857), Hyundai i30 (£13,963), Toyota Yaris (£13,647) and the Ford Grand C-Max (£12,189). Price hikes have been driven by Covid and a global computer chip shortage delaying deliveries of new cars — which has increased demand for used vehicles.
In December the average asking price of a ‘nearly new’ vehicle (those aged less than 12 months old) rose by 45 per cent compared with the two years prior in December 2019, reaching an average price of £34,429.
Richard Walker, Auto Trader’s director of data and insights, said the used market ‘is on track for strong continued price growth well into the second half of the new year’.
‘The two main factors fuelling this growth, supply constraints and strong consumer demand, both show no signs of easing any time soon. Claims of an imminent bubble burst are failing to take these key dynamics into account,’ he added. The rival CarFinance 247 used car price index also reported ‘double-digit annual growth’.