The average price of used electric vehicles (EVs) fell 15% year-on-year in February to a new post-Covid low of £27,607, as supply remained flat but online searches increased, according to MOTORS’ Market View.
EV prices have now been falling for five consecutive months from £31,209 in September, with month-on-month drops averaging 2.5%. This also reflects the older EVs now included in the used car market.
Vehicles experiencing double digit MoM price drops were led by the Audi E-Tron (2-3 years) down 15% to £32,271, Vauxhall Mokka (6-12 months) down 13% to £19,461, Citroen C4 (6-12 months) down 12% and Nissan Leaf (2-3 years) down 11% to £15,994.
Ongoing price realignments across many models saw a YoY doubling of EV ad views on MOTORS from 0.8% to 1.6%.
Despite greater volumes of EVs reportedly entering the wholesale market, as fleets replaced older vehicles, dealer stock levels remained flat MoM and YoY, accounting for just 5% of vehicles being listed for sale.
EVs also dominated the top five fastest selling used cars in February with the Volkswagen ID.5 (less than six months) selling in 10 days, Audi Q4 (less than six months) in 11 days and MG MG4 (1-2 years) in 12 days.
The overall fastest selling used car in February was the petrol-engined Kia XCeed (6-12 months), averaging just nine days on dealer forecourts.
Overall February was a relatively stable month for used car activity. The average price of cars listed on MOTORS dipped just 1.3% to £16,862, with MoM drops now an established trend since prices peaked at £18,903 in January 2023.
Average days to sell across all retail sectors improved slightly MoM from 44 to 43 days. This was mostly led by franchised dealers where cars averaged 34 days in stock, a significant improvement on January’s 42 days. Car supermarkets remained flat at 30 days, while independents saw days to sell rise from 55 to 58 days.
Stock volumes were down marginally YoY from 44 to 43 units, two units down MoM. Car supermarkets saw the biggest MoM drops down from 246 to 214 units, followed by franchised dealers down from 56 to 51 units. Independents remained unchanged at 34 units.
“A welcome month of stability for the used car market with minor MoM movements across our three key metrics: average price, days to sell and stock levels,” said Lucy Tugby, Marketing Director of MOTORS.
“The steady monthly downward realignment of prices, from the highs we saw last year, continues with the average now below £17,000 for the first time since October 2022. These lower prices, coupled with reduced inventories, resulted in a slight improvement in days to sell.
“February’s standout trends were around EVs. Growing awareness of price corrections is certainly generating more interest among potential EV buyers searching online. Models that were deemed unaffordable this time last year are now up for serious consideration.
“This presents dealers with a dilemma. They know demand there and certain models sell quickly but they will be wary about increasing stock levels until there is closer price parity to comparable petrol and diesel models,” said Tugby.
