Toyota Prius Takes April’s Fastest Selling Used Car

London: Data from Auto Trader, the UK’s largest marketplace for used and new cars, revealed the 2014 Toyota Prius (automatic) was the UK’s fastest selling used car in April, taking an average of just 14 days to sell. The 2012 Yaris (petrol automatic) also featured in the top 10 list; at 19 days to turn it was the UK’s sixth fastest selling used car. It’s the second time this year that the Japanese manufacturer dominated the national list; in February the 2014 Prius and Yaris were the first and second fastest used cars to turn.

In April, the 2016 Mercedes-Benz GLA Class SUV (diesel manual) and the 2016 Ford Mondeo (petrol automatic) followed the Prius to make up the top three, taking an average of 15 and 16 days to sell respectively. Across the UK, the Blue Oval badge dominated, with Fords taking the number one spot in six regions/countries, including London (2014 Fiesta petrol manual), East England (2015 Kuga diesel manual), North West (2012 Fiesta petrol manual), Northern Ireland (2015 Fiesta petrol manual), South East (2016 Galaxy diesel automatic) and Yorkshire (2012 Focus petrol manual).

In terms of fuel types, an electric hybrid may have taken first place nationally, but it was an almost equal split for petrol and diesels regionally. Petrol powered used cars topped the list in seven regions/countries (London, North West, Northern Ireland, South West, Wales, West Midlands and Yorkshire) whilst diesel were the fastest selling in the remaining six (East England, East Midlands, North East, Scotland, South and South East).

Hitting targets will always be determined by how quickly a dealer can turn their stock around and using data is the key to speeding it up. Users of i-Control, Auto Trader‘s data management solution, took an average of just 26 days to sell a car in April, compared to a market average of 62 – 58% faster than those that don’t use the data management tool.

Karolina Edwards-Smajda, Auto Trader Retailer & Consumer Products Director, said: “2017 has been a strong year so far for Toyota. Both the Prius and the Yaris have excellent reputations for reliability and fuel economy, ensuring a healthy demand in the used car market and a dependable investment for dealers.

“As we can see from the range of vehicles making up the top 10 lists across the UK, there remains a healthy demand for all fuel types of used cars. Coupled with personal sales experience, data can be an effective tool in identifying which vehicles are the most desirable in your area. It can also tell you how much they should be priced based on the live retail market, helping you to build trust with your customers, and importantly, helping you to sell more cars more quickly.”

Mark Roden, Sales Director at Toyota Great Britain, said: “It’s great to hear that the huge surge in hybrid sales we’re seeing in new cars across the range is also helping sell pre-owned Toyotas too. It’s very clear the public are embracing hybrid as the solution not only to air quality issues, but also fuel economy and enhanced cabin ambience.”