Data from Auto Trader's Fastest Selling Index, which live tracks the potential speed at which vehicles sell based on live supply and demand in the market, shows strong consumer appetite for SUVs, with six making it onto the national top 10 of fastest turners. The 2008 is joined by four variations of Mazda's venerable CX-5 SUV, as well as the Dacia Duster (2015 diesel manual), which was recently crowned Best Value New Car at the Auto Trader New Car Awards 2020.
With the recent dry and sunny summer weather, it's no surprise that the latest analysis of the Index also revealed an increase in demand for coupes and convertibles. The 2015 Peugeot RCZ (petrol manual) is 4th on the list, whilst the 2016 BMW Z4 petrol automatic and petrol manual variants round off the top ten list in 8th and 10th place respectively.
Looking at the list of used cars that took the longest to leave forecourts, analysis revealed nearly new plugin hybrids to be among the slowest selling used cars in the UK. With economic uncertainty a concern for many consumers, the comparatively high sticker price of a low emission vehicle remains a major barrier to entry for many car buyers.
Commenting on the Index, Auto Trader's director of commercial products, Karolina Edwards-Smajda, said: "Even after seven weeks of forecourts reopening in England, demand remains exceptionally high with an average of 1.4 million people visiting our marketplace every day, which is 19% more than this time last year. This is reflected in the speed of sale retailers are experiencing on their forecourts, with the average days to turn back to pre-COVID-19 levels.
"The latest results highlight the enduring popularity of SUVs. Data from our Market Insight tool, which is available to all Auto Trader customers, reveals that demand for 4x4s and crossovers has increased 42.5% since the beginning of June - more than any other body type - followed by coupes and convertibles. We strongly believe that utilising data alongside your own expertise will be essential in the industry's recovery from the impact of lockdown. With the auction volumes still recovering and trade prices remaining high, being able to identify the most in demand vehicles and pricing them according to the market will determine your success."
The metric is based on analysis of over 1.9 million vehicles each day, including 90,000 vehicle updates and an average of 19,000 vehicles added or removed from Auto Trader. Coupled with data from circa 450,000 daily trade used car listings, as well as additional dealer forecourt and website data, it's the industry's largest and most robust dataset.
Current fastest selling used cars (by days to turn) – as of 22nd July 2020
| Rank |
Make/model |
Fuel & transmission |
| 1 |
2015 Peugeot 2008 |
Diesel - Automatic |
| 2 |
2016 Mazda CX-5 |
Diesel - Manual |
| 3 |
2015 Mazda CX-5 |
Diesel - Manual |
| 4 |
2015 Peugeot RCZ |
Petrol - Manual |
| 5 |
2016 Mazda CX-5 |
Diesel - Automatic |
| 6 |
2015 Mazda CX-5 |
Diesel - Automatic |
| 7 |
2015 Dacia Duster |
Diesel - Manual |
| 8 |
2016 BMW Z4 |
Petrol - Automatic |
| 9 |
2014 Vauxhall Zafira |
Petrol - Manual |
| 10 |
2016 BMW Z4 |
Petrol - Manual |