Strong demand for ICE cars brought record-high Q1 revenues for Autorola but fully electric and hybrid cars continued to pose challenges.

Q1 used petrol prices rise by 6.1%, while hybrid prices took the biggest fall of 8.2%

Q1 used petrol prices rose by 6.1% (£849) from £14,067 to £14,926 at an average of 41 months and 24,089 miles. Diesel prices were also up, rising by 1.8% (£324) from £18,007 to £18,331 at an average of 47 months and 36,288 miles.

In contrast, hybrid prices fell 8.2% (£2,149) from £25,971 to £23,822 as average age and mileage rose marginally at 32 months and 18,912 miles.

Fully electric cars fell by 2.8% (£797) from £28,231 to £27,434 at an average of 26 months and 16,814 miles, with dealers choosing to only buy older cheaper EVs to add to their forecourts.

In total, used ICE cars accounted for 91.3% of Autorola’s online used sales in Q1 (64.9% petrol and 26.4% diesel) but just 1.2% were EVs and 7.5% hybrids. This meant their declining values didn’t impact its overall used market figures.

But while EVs were marginal in volume, Autorola group sales director Jon Mitchell said most of the conversations he had with vendors and buyers in Q1 involved EVs.

“It’s unusual that over 90% of the used cars we sold in Q1 were petrol and diesel but most of their questions were around EVs. Just 1.2% of the used cars we sold in Q1 were electric, but everyone remains fascinated about when both demand and prices will settle down,” he said.

“Demand for EVs remains tough, although dealers were only bidding on the older, cheaper models to add to their stock in Q1. Overall, the used market has been very strong since the New Year and has continued in this vein during April,” he added.