May 2023 – Data from Dealer Auction’s Retail Margin Monitor has revealed that products from both premium and mainstream brands offered dealers the top profit margins in April 2023, with a new model entry from Peugeot emphasising the importance of holding a varied stocklist.
At the top of the chart, it was a clean sweep for Land Rover products, with the Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque at first (£3,690) and second (£3,190) respectively. Elsewhere in the table, there was a notable new model entry, with the Peugeot 3008 entering the fray for the first time, attracting an average retail margin of £2,740. Alongside the Citroën Grand C4 Picasso at number seven in the table, which joined the chart last month.
Dealer Auction’s Marketplace Director, Kieran TeeBoon, commented: “The healthy mix of products selling with the best margins in April shows that data can be a gamechanger in helping dealers stay ahead of the curve amid the current competition for stock. These actionable insights can support them in identifying vehicles that not only sell well but also ultimately provide unique income opportunities. In short, data helps dealers play to their strengths.”
The split between premium and mainstream was even more evident in the top 10 makes. With an average retail margin of £3,290, Land Rover topped the chart for April – followed by fellow premium brands BMW and Mercedes-Benz, with £3,760 and £2,670 respectively. But further down the table is where things get interesting, with more mainstream brands, including SEAT, Kia and Volkswagen, coming to the fore.
TeeBoon concluded: “April 2023 saw some movers and shakers at both make and model level. Just as we as a platform are staying agile in order to support dealers to make quick and smart decisions, it’s important for them to take advantage of these new opportunities when reviewing their stocklists.”
Richard Walker, Auto Trader’s Data and Insights Director, added: “Over the last few months we’ve seen an acceleration in retail price growth, from both a year-on-year and month-on-month perspective. In April prices grew at their fastest pace for 17 months, and at this mid-month point, retail prices are up around 0.6% month-on-month, which is very unusual for May, when prices traditionally soften. This acceleration not only shows the current strength of the used car market, but also just how important it is to keep a close eye on the live retail market to ensure you’re getting the very best possible margins for your stock.”
About Dealer Auction
Dealer Auction is the UK’s smartest and busiest automotive digital wholesale marketplace. We give buyers and sellers more choice, better insight and greater margins. Dealer Auction is an independent company, created through a joint venture between Cox Automotive and Auto Trader. For more information, visit www.dealerauction.co.uk.
Launched in January 2022, Dealer Auction’s Retail Margin Monitor tracks the potential retail margin that can be achieved on vehicles bought via Dealer Auction’s open network. We track models meeting two key criteria: more than 20 units sold* with a retail price of less than £25,000. We then compare the sold price for each model with the Auto Trader market average to reveal the potential margin. For the brand table, we compare models with more than 50 units sold*. We crunch the numbers at the start of every new month. This May 2023 edition analyses data from 1st April to 30th April 2023.
* Note: To reflect the increasing volumes handled by Dealer Auction, the parameters for the number of units sold have been upped from 10 to 20 units sold on make/model and 10 to 50 at a brand level as of 1st April 2023.
