UK used car sales down 2.1% in 2018 - SMMT
UK used car annual sales fell 2.1% to 7.9m sales, with 167,980 fewer cars changing owner compared to 2017, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders said on Wednesday.
The SMMT described the fall as "moderate", maintaining it was not severe as the new car market and 2018 was still the third highest year on records going back to 2001.
This year experienced a noticeable switch to “cleaner” cars with growth in the market coming through sales of hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery electric cars, which rose 27% in the year to 106,658. Alternatively fuelled cars were up 26.9% year-on-year as buyers opt for the latest technology.
Petrol cars on the other hand showed a full-year decline in sales of 4.2% and diesel held steady with a 0.3% increase.
Superminis remained the largest segment grouping in 2018 with a 33% market share, although sales were down 3.7% to 2.6m.
SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: “It’s encouraging to see more used car buyers snapping up low-emission vehicles as supply grows – but those sales remain low as an overall proportion of the market."
"We still need the right policies and incentives from government to give new car buyers confidence to choose the cleanest petrol, diesel and electric models that best suit their needs, so that even more drivers can benefit from this exciting technology as it filters down to the used market in the coming years.”