October 10, 2017

KIA Sportage is the UK's fastest selling used car for second consecutive month

  • 2015 Kia Sportage takes the national top spot, taking just 15 days to sell in September
  • Hatchbacks dominate regionally, topping the tables in 10 out of the 13 tracked regions/countries
  • i-Control users enjoy 59% improvement on stock turn

10 October 2017 - London: Data from Auto Trader, the UK's largest marketplace for used and new cars, revealed that the 2015 Kia Sportage (petrol manual) was the fastest selling used car in September, taking an average of just 15 days to turn. It marks the second consecutive month the Korean SUV has taken the national top spot, after taking the least amount of days to sell in August (17), as well as taking the title for 2016's overall fastest selling used car.

Last month the Sportage was followed closely into second and third place by the 2016 Ford Kuga (petrol automatic), and the 2015 Renault Captur (petrol manual), taking a respective 19 days to leave the UK's forecourts.

From a regional perspective, it was the nippy hatchback that dominated, taking the number one spot in 10 of the 13 regions/countries tracked; East England (2016 Hyundai i10, petrol manual); London (2014 Mercedes-Benz B Class, diesel automatic); North East (2016 Honda Civic, diesel manual); North West (2014 Renault Clio, petrol manual); Scotland (2016 Fiat 500X, diesel manual); South (2015 Vauxhall Mokka, petrol manual); Wales (2016 Nissan Qashqai, diesel manual), West Midlands (2014 Vauxhall Astra, petrol manual), and Yorkshire (2012 Ford Fiesta, petrol manual).

Hitting targets will always be determined by how quickly a dealer can turn their stock around and using data is the key to speeding it up. Users of i-Control, Auto Trader's data management solution, took an average of just 27 days to sell a car in September, compared to a market average of 66 - 59% faster than those that don't use the data management tool.

Karolina Edwards-Smajda, Auto Trader Retailer & Consumer Products Director, said: 'It's great to see the Sportage take the number one spot once again this year, underlining just how popular its seven-year warranty is amongst consumers. Even a 2015 model still has five years remaining, offering a level of consumer confidence that many manufacturers would struggle to compete with.

'Looking at the national top ten, it's hugely reassuring to see such an impressive speed of sale. However, looking across the UK, there are some cars taking up to 54 days to leave the forecourt. As our insight tells us time and time again, the most effective way to turn stock more quickly is using data to complement sales experience, helping dealers to make more informed decisions on pricing and choosing stock which is the most desirable in their area.'

Paul Philpott, President and Chief Executive of Kia Motors (UK) Limited said: 'Once again, this is great news to hear. We know just how fast Sportage continues to sell as a new car, how its residual value makes it a great car for owners and so to see that demand for it as a used car is undimmed comes as no great surprise - and we don't take that fact for granted!'

The UK's Top 10 Fastest Selling Cars in September:

Rank Description Average Days to Sell Average Price Position Average Retail Price
1 2015 Kia Sportage SUV Petrol Manual 15 99.00% £13,779
2 2016 Ford Kuga SUV Petrol Automatic 19 99.56% £23,427
3 2015 Renault Captur Hatchback Petrol Manual 19 99.52% £9,989
4 2016 Hyundai i40 Saloon Diesel Automatic 19 97.22% £13,737
5 2014 Renault Captur Hatchback Diesel Automatic 20 99.95% £10,115
6 2015 Kia Rio Hatchback Petrol Manual 21 99.18% £7,849
7 2014 Mercedes-Benz C Class Saloon Petrol Automatic 22 99.64% £18,344
8 2014 Audi Q3 SUV Petrol Automatic 22 99.61% £21,810
9 2016 Renault Captur Hatchback Petrol Manual 23 99.24% £11,579
10 2015 Ford B-Max MPV Petrol Manual 24 100.10% £9,329

About i-Control:

i-Control is Auto Trader's data intelligence solutions, which tracks live market movements, recommends what stock to buy, where to find it, how much to pay for it, and how much to sell it for taking into account regional differences in desirability - and is proven to improve stock turn, as we've seen, by 59%.

Using a combination of daily guide prices from over 4,500 dealer websites, the 500,000+ ads on Auto Trader and price data from all major auctions, fleet & lease companies and manufacturers, i-Control provides accurate valuations ensuring retailers' stock is competitively priced from day one.

About Auto Trader

Auto Trader Group plc is the UK and Ireland's largest digital automotive marketplace. Auto Trader sits at the heart of the UK's vehicle buying process and its primary activity is to help vehicle retailers compete effectively on the marketplace in order to sell more vehicles, faster. Auto Trader listed on the London Stock Exchange in March 2015 and is now a member of the FTSE 250 Index.

The marketplace brings together the largest and most engaged consumer audience. Auto Trader has over 90% prompted brand awareness and attracts an average of 60 million monthly cross platform visits a month, with circa 70% of visits coming through mobile devices.

The marketplace also has the largest pool of vehicle sellers (listing more than 470,000 cars each day). Over 80% of UK automotive retailers advertise on autotrader.co.uk.

For more information, please visit http://about-us.autotrader.co.uk

For all trade media enquiries, please contact:

Andrew Nankervis - Senior PR Manager, Auto Trader

Email: andrew.nankervis@autotrader.co.uk

Tel: +44 203 747 7234

Auto Trader Group plc published this content on 10 October 2017 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein.
Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 10 October 2017 07:24:01 UTC.

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