Diesel demand strong
Glass’s car editor Jonathan Brown said: ‘With Trade demand for stock having increased in recent weeks, vendors have noted that the bulk of this demand has been for diesel-engined variants.
‘On average a diesel model on a bread and butter car, like a Ford Focus 1.6TDCi, compared to an equivalent 1.6 petrol model, has increased by between £300 and £400.
‘Other C-segment cars seem to have enjoyed similar levels of demand for the diesel engine. Citroen C4 is another example. Larger cars see a polarisation of this situation to the point where there is only demand for diesel and petrol variants are virtually never asked for, especially where seven-seaters like S-MAX, Galaxy and Qashqai are concerned.’
Figures from the newly released BCA Used Car Market Report 2010 illustrate just how popular diesel cars are on the used market.
The report states: ‘Diesel-engined cars’ share of the used car market reached 36% this year, from 33% in 2009 and 26% just three years earlier – growing closer to diesel’s new car market share of 42% in 2009, as fleets and leasing companies, in particular, dispose of ever higher numbers of diesels.
‘Diesel new car market share hit a high of 50.6% in July 2010, as private registrations weakened post scrappage and fleet volumes continued their recovery.’