Used car sales in Great Britain increased by 7% year-on-year in Q4 2015, according to data provider Experian.
As a result, 1.63m cars were sold between October and December.
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The largest growth came from 0-3 year old cars. 320,756 cars in this age range were sold in Q4 2015, 10.95% more than the same period 2014.
292,610 cars between 3-6 years old were sold in the period, up 3.31%, while sales of vehicles over nine years old almost saw double digit growth (up 9.84% year-on-year to 763,060).
Sales of vehicles in the 6-9 year range actually shrank in the period, down 5.74% year-on-year, to 257,854.
Andrew Ballard, head of automotive at Experian, said: "New car registrations have been buoyant for the last four years so it is natural to now see this reflected in used car sales. Vehicles which were sold as new cars in the years since 2012 are coming back to motor traders as used cars within the typical change cycle.
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By GlobalData"In some cases, people are being tempted and finding it viable to trade their car in before their finance deal reaches maturity. Manufacturer incentives and finance packages such as PCPs (personal contract purchases) put new cars at affordable monthly price points. It poses a challenge for those selling new cars, but our figures show they can still thrive – particularly if a quality used car is backed with the confidence of a provenance check and a warranty."
The North East saw the fastest growth over the period, up 8.3% year-on-year, though with 78,902 used cars sold, it remained the second smallest region by volume.
Scotland and Greater London saw the slowest growth, up 4.1% and 4.3% respectively.
The Ford Fiesta was the most commonly sold car for cars up to six years old, which is unsurprising, considering its market dominance in the new car sector over recent years. The Vauxhall Corsa was the most popular car between six and nine years old, and the Ford Focus was the most popular car over nine years old.
