The UK’s used car market grew by 5.1% in 2023, according to the latest figures published today by the SMMT.
Four straight quarters of growth saw 351,915 more motorists get behind the wheel of a second hand car than in 2022.1
Superminis once again proved the most popular used car body type, accounting for one in three (32.1%) sales in the year. They were followed closely by cars in the lower medium segment, which took 26.6% of the market and dual purpose vehicles (15.2%). The smallest volume segment was luxury saloons, representing just 0.5% of transactions.
Across the year, sales of used battery electric cars (BEV) almost doubled, rising 90.9% to a record 118,973 units and a 1.6% share of the overall market, up from 0.9% in 2022. The uplift is in line with growth in the new car sector and demonstrates keen demand for zero emission motoring in this naturally more affordable price bracket.
Sales of hybrid electric and plug-in hybrid electric cars were also strong, up by 40.0% and 25.1% respectively and, collectively, electrified vehicles represented 5.6% of the market, up from 4.0% in 2022. Diesel and petrol, however, remained the most dominant fuel types, with a total of 6,827,466 units changing hands, 94.3% of the overall market.2
Notes to editors:
1 FY used car sales, 2022: 6,890,777 units
2 Used diesel figures, 2023: 2,747,911 units; Used petrol figures, 2023: 4,079,555 units.
