December 2023 –Dealer Auction’s Retail Margin Monitor for November saw mainstream brands offer dealers unique opportunities for profit, with the Hyundai Tucson breaking into the top three and inaugural entries for the Ford Kuga and, as a brand, Renault.
The Range Rover Evoque reclaimed the top spot, with an average retail margin of £5,100, the joint-highest average margin since the launch of the monitor in January 2022.
But it was mainstream models that caught the eye of Dealer Auction’s analysts. The Hyundai Tucson rose from joint-tenth in August to fifth place in October and third place in November, with an average retail margin of £3,300. November also saw the first-ever entry for the Ford Kuga SUV, in seventh place with an average retail margin of £2,975.
Dealer Auction’s Marketplace Director, Kieran TeeBoon, commented: “The Hyundai Tucson is a model on the up and it’s now competing with Land Rover and Mercedes-Benz in the top three. The Ford Kuga is a notable entry, we also saw the second-ever appearance of the Peugeot 3008, with the Kia Sportage, Peugeot 2008 and Volkswagen Tiguan sitting just outside the top 10. This jostling for positions suggests a growing appetite in the market for more affordable mainstream SUVs.
“With the ongoing realignment in the industry, Cox Automotive’s 2023 used car transactions forecast of 7.15 million remains a guiding light for dealers. And using all the data at their disposal will help them keep a steady course.”
At brand level, Land Rover retained its position at the top of the chart with an average retail margin of £4,450, followed by Mercedes-Benz (£3,300) and BMW (£3,200). Renault entered the table for the first time with an average retail margin of £2,300, joining fellow mainstream brands, Volkswagen, Nissan and Kia.
TeeBoon concluded: “With used car values under pressure, a data-driven perspective empowers dealers to optimise their stock buying, capitalise on trends and stay ahead as this realignment plays out. It’s important to price to the market in order to shift their stock quickly and profitably, while keeping in mind that buyer demand is likely to increase after Christmas.”
Richard Walker, Data and Insight Director at Auto Trader commented on the findings: “That the Margin Monitor has this month recorded a joint-highest retail margin is a true testament to the current health of the market and the opportunities available as wholesale and retail prices become increasingly out of sync. As we’ve been reporting for some months now, retail prices remain robust across segments of the market, demand is solid, and cars are selling quickly. The findings from the Monitor show that more than ever, profit opportunities are in the detail.”
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About Dealer Auction
Dealer Auction is the UK’s leading digital remarketing platform. We give buyers and sellers more choice, better insight and greater margins. Dealer Auction is an independent company, created through a joint venture between Cox Automotive and Auto Trader. For more information, visit www.dealerauction.co.uk.
Launched in January 2022, Dealer Auction’s Retail Margin Monitor tracks the potential retail margin that can be achieved on vehicles bought via Dealer Auction’s open network. We track models meeting two key criteria: more than 20 units sold with a retail price of less than £25,000. We then compare the sold price for each model with the Auto Trader market average to reveal the potential margin. For the brand table, we compare models with more than 50 units sold. We crunch the numbers at the start of every new month.
Notes:
The average ‘Auto Trader Retail Rating’ uses three key metrics to determine the consumer demand for the vehicle:
- Average days to sell – Calculated for the whole of the UK and then adjusted for the variations Auto Trader have observed locally in your area.
- Live market supply – Comparing the national supply level for the vehicle over the last seven days with the usual level of supply Auto Trader have seen in the market over the last six months.
- Live buyer demand – Analysing how many people are currently searching for the vehicle on Auto Trader, comparing consumer search behaviour over the last seven days against the level of interest over the last six months.
