Following the rumours of an imminent plummet in values, Richard Parkin, head of valuations and analysis at Glass’s, said: ‘There is an emerging belief held by some market commentators that now Easter is upon us the bottom is about the fall out of the 4×4 market. In years gone by, this may have been the case… but not anymore.

‘Over the past year to 18 months, 4x4s have increasingly been proven to have year-round appeal, and aside from large petrol engine variants, they have lost a lot of their traditional seasonality. And this isn’t just my opinion, the facts speak for themselves. 4x4s and off-road vehicles have continually featured in Glass’s league of fastest selling cars in the UK. Land Rover’s Discovery was the overall fastest selling car throughout 2013, and even large 4x4s are selling well in 2014 despite a pretty mild winter.

‘As the situation stands currently, the Discovery, Evoque, Freelander, Volvo XC90 and XC70 and Jeep’s Cherokee are all selling more quickly than the national average selling time of 37 days – that means dealers nationwide are turning these vehicles quickly and making good money from them.

‘The relatively economic diesel engines that are in play today mean all the advantages of a 4×4 can be enjoyed without the great running cost disadvantage that earlier models suffered from.

‘Of course, 4×4 trade values have peaked and we will see a softening in values over and above wider market declines expected over the coming weeks as overall used car demand eases post-Easter. But this is to be expected and we don’t see anything drastic happening, although smaller 4x4s and new-to-market models will fare best in terms of residual values over the coming months.

‘We have been watching 4x4s with interest over the past two years and the pattern has definitely changed. Without any shadow of a doubt, many 4x4s remain popular in any weather extreme and at any time of year. From what we can see in price terms, there isn’t a machete in sight.’