Fall in used EV values prompts sales boost

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Demand for ex-fleet EVs and dealer part exchanges were strong in July
Used EV prices fall more into line with equivalent ICE cars
Used EV stock becoming more manageable

DEMAND for used zero emission cars has resulted in the lowest dealer stock levels in 2023, according to INDICATA’s most recent used car insights report.

The business intelligence and analytics solutions provider for used car operations says this was a positive response to used EV prices falling by 29% during 2023. It has reduced the major price premium drivers have been forced to pay for an EV to bring them more into line with equivalent petrol and diesel models.

INDICATA says this could be the tipping point the market needs where EV sales are steadily growing, and prices start to stabilise following many months of price instability.

INDICATA’s Market Days’ Supply (MDS) figure, which measures the supply of stock divided by the current sales rate over the past 45 days, saw used EVs reduce to 52.7 days compared with 45.8 days for petrol, 44.5 days for diesel and 51.1 days for hybrids. To put this into perspective the MDS of EVs was as high as 168 days as recently as January 2023.

The data shows the MDS of used EVs and ICE cars is moving closer together with INDICATA reporting strong demand for used EVs across all age groups in July.

The sales mix of ex-fleet cars up to four years old, was split 21.5%/6.0% between hybrids and BEVs whilst diesel slipped to 18.1% and petrol rose to 54.4%. The used cars at sub-two two years of age, which are typically dealer part exchanges, saw diesel market share fall to just 9.4%, behind BEVs at 10.3%, hybrids at 32.7% and petrol at 47.4%.

It seems the massive price fall in used EV values in the past 12 months is finally transferring into improved sales which is reducing stock to more manageable levels.

While used EV volumes are still much smaller than ICE and hybrid cars these are positive signs that the used market is finding its price level which is good news for both fleets and dealers. There is still a lot of education to do before every driver considers a used EV, but these July trends are very encouraging.

Jon Mitchell, INDICATA UK’s group sales director

Following Ford ending Fiesta production, the car continues to head up INDICATA’s top-selling table followed by the Mercedes A Class and VW Golf.

The fastest-selling used car table meanwhile was headed up by EVs with the Mercedes EQA in first place followed by the BMW i3 that is also no longer in production.