July 2025 – The latest Retail Margin Monitor from Dealer Auction has revealed that the Ford Kuga offered dealers the highest profit potential in the sub-£10,000 retail bracket in June. The popular family SUV has been a firm fixture in the table throughout the first half of 2025, and in June it secured an average retail margin of £2,600 – significantly higher than its £2,225 top spot in March 2025.
There were plenty of talking points in last month’s top 10, with new entries from the Hyundai i30 in third place (£2,375) and the Fiat 500X in seventh (£2,315). Meanwhile, the Vauxhall Insignia (£2,300) entered the fray for the second time on record and was the top 10’s quickest seller – shifting in 27 days on average. May’s headline performers – the Peugeot 2008 and 3008 – were still in contention, with the former climbing from third to second place with £2,425.
Dealer Auction’s Marketplace Director, Kieran TeeBoon, commented: “June saw a mix of continuity and change. The Kuga was 2024’s overall top performer and strong so far in 2025, so it’s interesting to see it return to the top spot for the second time in 2025.
“But while this trend and Peugeot’s performance persisted, we also observed emerging themes. The fact that after over three years of tracking the data, we’re still seeing new models enter the top 10 for margin speaks to the dynamic nature of the market and the exciting opportunities available. Timing is everything; by keeping on top of the short- and long-term trends, dealers can lay the groundwork to meet shifting consumer demand and ensure they have the right stock at the right time.”
Looking at the top 10 for models retailing above £10,000, the Volvo XC90 topped the chart for the second time this year, clocking the highest margin of 2025 so far: £5,200. The XC90 has been challenging the dominance of long-term Retail Margin Monitor performers – the Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque. In June, it surpassed the second-place Discovery Sport by £1,000. The latter achieved an average margin of £4,200, followed by the Evoque with £4,050.
Interestingly, 50% of the over-£10,000 top 10 were from mainstream brands, including the Kia Sportage, Volkswagen Tiguan, Nissan Qashqai, Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf, showing how different specs attract a wide appeal.
At brand level, BMW have achieved six consecutive months at the top of the chart for makes for models with a retail value of under £10,000. In June, the brand achieved an average margin of £2,425, followed by Mercedes-Benz (£2,350) and Volvo (£2,300).
TeeBoon concluded: “As we reach the 2025 midpoint, we’ve seen a brilliant performance across the trade network so far this year. It’s clear that the used car market is a stabilising force, as highlighted in Cox Automotive’s recent prediction of a used car market of 7.64 million units in the UK this year.1 This means dealers can have the confidence to stick to their guns when it comes to pricing, using these market dynamics and all the data available to boost their margins.”
Source
1 https://www.coxautoinc.eu/insight-quarterly/issue-5-2025/used-car-market-forecasts/
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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:
1The 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.
