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The latest Motor Trader Top 50 Independent Dealers survey tracks strong growth in the sales and profit performance of the UK’s top non-franchised car retailers.
The combined turnover of the top 50 companies increased by 25% to £3.7bn.
Motor Trader’s analysis of the sector is based on the year-end results of the top 50 retailers by turnover and shows the continuing boom in new car sales since 2012 has increased the supply of part-exchange and nearly-new cars to support the strong appetite for used cars.
The car supermarket groups dominated the top 10 with Motorpoint retraining the top spot with a turnover of £563m. The group’s results were based on 52,000 units sold through its 11 centres. Second placed was London’s single-site Car Giant on £465m and in third place was Available Car on £208m.
The research shows the value of retailers’ used stock has kept pace with the volume of sales, with BCA Pulse reporting an average price of £7,838 in March this year, which is up 45% on the average auction price in March 2008 prior to the recession, and well ahead of RPI inflation of 23% over the period. Motor Trader’s research suggests an increase of 6% in the past year, with the average price of a dealer-supplied used car now tracking at around £12,000.
This trend towards more used car units sold at higher prices is reflected in the collective turnover of the 2016 MT Top 50, which grew 25% to £3.7bn (2015: £2.9bn).
“The used car market is going through a period of growth with 7.6 million units changing hands in 2015 and this year’s market is on course to close in on 8 million units,” said the report.
“The market has been helped by the ample supply of stock from the robust growth in new car registrations and this has provided opportunities for profitable expansion among the leading players.”
As in previous years’ surveys, most of the MT Top 50 players are single-outlet retailers, despite the large market shares of the largest multi-outlet groups.
Click here for the full MT Top 50 report.