Online used car sales and prices are rising post-lockdown as customers and dealers become more au fait with them, boosting the outlook for Q2.

Jon Mitchell, Autorola UK’s group sales director

Indicata’s latest Market Watch report reveals online B2C used car sales in March 2021 were 30.3% higher than February 2021 and 38.4% higher than March 2020.

The data shows how online sales have kept the used market moving in 2021, with sales increasing every month in 2021 and 2.8% ahead of the same period in 2020 – this reinforces the success of the dealer ‘click and collect’ scheme during lockdown 3.0.

The UK has also seen its first manufacturer backed tactical registrations since the Covid-19 pandemic began, with the sales of sub-12-month-old stock up by 60% from February to March 2021.

Sales of three-year-old stock also rose by 41% but, with contract extensions continuing as manufacturer delivery schedules rise, Indicata says we are likely to see a shortage of stock and prices continue to rise in this sector.

While prices across the used sector fell slightly from January to March, the outlook is already positive for April after dealers started restocking forecourts for the 12 April showroom reopening – prices have already stated to rise, such is the demand and competition for new stock.

“The used market has been trading at a higher level than previous lockdowns thanks to more consumers prepared to buy online and dealers getting slicker at managing the process,” explained Jon Mitchell, Autorola UK’s group sales director.

“Early April has already seen demand and prices rise and unless we see a large volume of the part exchanges hit the market from the 283,000 new cars sold in March this trend is likely to continue until the summer.”