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Used car market sees annual increase, but still down on pre-pandemic trade, SMMT reports

Date: 08 February 2022   |   Author: Sean Keywood

Used car transactions in the UK increased by 11.5% year-on-year in 2021, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

However, despite this growth, which was expected as 2020 was more severely hit by Covid-19 lockdown measures, 2021's total of 7,530,956 transactions was still 5.5% below the pre-pandemic five-year average.

In addition, the fourth quarter of 2021 saw sales down by 3.1% compared with a year earlier, a fall attributed to the knock-on effect of new car supply issues, caused by the global semiconductor crisis, hitting the used market, and also to the arrival of the Omicron variant of Covid, with December's sales down by 10.2% year-on-year.

The annual figures showed big increases in the number of pure electric, plug-in hybrid, and conventional hybrid cars traded, up by 119.2%, 75.6%, and 50.3% respectively. However, these sales combined still only made up 3.1% of the overall market.

Used petrol and diesel car sales increased by 10.7% and 9.8% respectively.

SMMT chief executive Mike Hawes said: "It's good to see the used car market return to growth, even if activity is still below where we were pre-pandemic. 

"With the global shortage of semiconductors set to ease later this year, releasing the squeeze on new car supply, we expect more of the latest, cleanest and zero emission models to become available for second owners. 

"The demand for personal mobility has undoubtedly increased during the pandemic, so it's vital we have healthy new car sales to drive fleet renewal and the used car market if we are to improve air quality and address climate change."



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