The value of used car values in 2014 reached £45.1bn in 2014, according to British Car Auctions (BCA), a 5.6% year-on-year increase.
The majority (£34.3bn) of sales came from dealer sales. The value of private sales only grew slightly, from £6.9bn in 2013 to 7.0bn in 2014. The remainder came from ‘other’ sales.
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A total of 7.2m used cars were old over the year. Compared to the approximate 2.5m new car sales reported by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, this gives a ratio of 2,9 used cars sold for every 1 new car.
BCA said the mix of used cars changed from 2013 to 2014. The average age of a used car grew to 7.8 years in 2014. This was a year older than it was a decade ago.
The remarketer said it expected strong new car sales to result in a slight decline in average age by the end of 2016.
Hatchback’s remained the most popular model amongst used buyers, with 51% of all cars bought falling being classified as one.
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By GlobalDataPrice was the biggest single influence when choosing a particular used car (41%), followed by mileage (32%) and make/model (31%).
BCA noted that the importance of the make/model of a vehicle rose the more a person spent on a vehicle. 15% of buyers spending less than £1,000 were concerned about this, compared to 58% of motorists who spend £10,000 and 65% who spent over £20,000.
Spender Lock, group managing director at BCA, said: "Used car market values rose to record levels, as did the combined value of new and used cars sold. A record-breaking £88.5 billion was spent on used and new cars last year. The combined market churn of 9.7 million cars was one of the highest figures on record – only 2003 recorded a higher volume in recent years.
"The shape of the used car market is likely to change as the new cars sold in the last 3 or more years start to feed into the sector in greater volumes."
