The pendulum swung in favour of prestige brands in March, as buyers look to re-engage with the used premium car market moving into spring according to Aston Barclay’s latest used car desirability index.
The end of 2021 and into early 2022 saw stock costing more than £20,000 proving difficult to sell, as buyers switched to lower-cost cars. March saw the market swing back to premium branded models.
The top 15 most desirable vehicles in March showed that prestige brands are in favour again with Mercedes Benz, Range Rover and BMW making up more than 53% of the top 15 models. The Mercedes S Class led the March index with a high score of 9.3 closely followed by the Mercedes GLE and BMW X5.
Other traditionally luxury brands such as Volvo, Audi and Lexus fill the remaining models of interest, with only the ever-present Toyota Prius and Hyundai IX20 representing value-focused motoring.
“Dealers are coming back into the market for premium brands as their stocks have reduced over the past two months. Many dealers moved to buying more budget stock earlier in the year for fear of having too many high value used cars on their forecourts and then market prices softening,” said Martin Potter, Aston Barclay’s MD – Customer.
“New car sales look set to be compromised by semiconductor shortages for some time to come so we believe higher value premium bands will continue to do well in the used market,” he added.
Aston Barclay’s monthly index takes into consideration three key metrics: web views prior to sale, number of physical and online bids per sale, and the sale price achieved as a percentage of CAP average.
