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Used UK car market suffers in wake of Autumn Budget – sales down 8.74%

Marketcheck, the UK’s leading source of data on the UK used car market, has today published an analysis of the used car market following the Autumn budget. In this first look at market confidence following the new Labour Government’s budget, Marketcheck data has revealed a significant drop in confidence. 

Comparing the eleven preceding days to the budget to the eleven following, there has been an 8.74% drop in used car sales across the UK. There were 10,892 cars sold, on average each day, between 19th October and 29th October and 9,940 sold, on average each day, between 31st October and 10th November.

Overall, in the eleven days prior to the Budget, there were 119,809 used car sales. In the eleven days following the Budget, there were 109,336 sales.

All CarsAverage Sold Daily Volume
Pre-Budget daily average (19/10 – 29/10)10,892
Post-Budget Average(31/10 – 10/11)9,940
Difference-952
% Difference-8.74%

The most significant drop in sales following the Chancellor’s budget speech has been seen across petrol and diesel used cars, with a 9.87% and 8.38% decrease in sales respectively. Across the same timescale, 6,068 used petrol cars were sold before the budget on average each day, and 5,469 following. 3,581 used diesel cars were sold prior to the budget, 3,281 after.

PetrolAverage Sold Daily Volume
Pre-Budget daily average(19/10 – 29/10)6,068
Post-Budget daily average(31/10 – 10/11)5,469
Difference-599
% Difference-9.87%
DieselAverage Sold Daily Volume
Pre-Budget Average(19/10 – 29/10)3,581
Post-Budget Average(31/10 – 10/11)3,281
Difference-300
% Difference-8.38%

Based on Marketcheck’s statistics, EV and hybrid vehicles appear to be better insulated from a drop in market confidence. Used EVs saw a smaller decrease, with a 3.55% drop, 422 sold, on average each day, in the eleven days prior to Rachel Reeve’s announcement, and 407 in the eleven following.

Hybrid cars saw 821 sold daily before the budget and 783 immediately after, a 4.63% decrease.

Alastair Campbell, Marketcheck UK, commented:

“Without doubt, market confidence has been hit following Labour’s Budget. These are significant falls, which directly correlate to the wider economic announcements made by Rachel Reeves.”

“The used car market is a reliable gauge of economic confidence, so to see such a stark drop immediately following the Budget is a concerning sign for the British economy.”

“Individuals and families are tightening their belts, and evidently that has been reflected in these falling sales.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor

Volume of Sold
 DateAll CarsPetrolDieselEVHybrid
19/10/202410,7416,0853,459376821
20/10/202410,1735,7593,224391799
21/10/202411,2866,1343,823455874
22/10/202410,9635,9163,771465811
23/10/202410,9806,0143,658416892
24/10/202411,4176,2093,836484888
25/10/202411,0546,1113,758409776
26/10/202410,0125,8243,079362747
27/10/20249,7905,6243,116346704
28/10/202411,8446,6363,822483903
29/10/202411,5496,4413,843454811
30/10/202412,2566,8093,9404931,014
31/10/202410,8215,8053,740448828
01/11/20249,9955,5753,273416731
02/11/20249,8065,5603,115370761
03/11/20248,2974,7532,567319658
04/11/202411,9816,3874,274474846
05/11/20249,7725,2063,364412790
06/11/20249,7165,2913,255386784
07/11/20249,8325,1923,391425824
08/11/202410,7435,7853,624439895
09/11/202410,2775,9033,152401821
10/11/20248,0964,7032,331383679

About Marketcheck UK:

We are the best source of UK automotive data. We collate, enhance and manage more data on the UK used car sector than any other provider.

For any automotive businesses we bring unprecedented access to live data to power apps, populate reports and get insight into the UK used car market.

Based on our data of 680k tracked adverts, but has a very small variance because removing a car from the website is not always a sale to a consumer.

https://marketcheck.uk/

Contact:

Alistair Harrison
07498 217705
[email protected]

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