July 2024 – Dealer Auction has revealed its mid-year Retail Margin Monitor, announcing the used vehicles that have attracted the highest retail margins on its wholesale platform so far in 2024. Although there are familiar patterns from monthly releases, there’s an overarching theme of progression, with a range of models attracting higher profits and faster sales.
Luxury derivatives accounted for 90% of the mid-2024 top 10, with Land Rover vehicles continuing their dominance. Leading the pack, the Discovery Sport topped the chart with an average retail margin of £3,925, followed by the Range Rover Evoque (£3,500). Notably, the top model average margin for all of 2023 was £3,325.
As well as securing the top average profit, the Discovery Sport was also the second-fastest seller and secured an Average Auto Trader Retail Rating1 of 81 so far in 2024 (the highest Retail Rating in the 2023 top 10 was 74). The fastest selling profit-turner so far in 2024 is the Mazda CX5, selling in an average of 32 days – four days faster than 2023’s speediest seller.
Dealer Auction’s Marketplace Director, Kieran TeeBoon, commented: “The Discovery Sport continues to be a perennial favourite in the luxury segment and has registered an emphatic performance so far in 2024, reaching average profits of up to £5,000 (April 2024). But these top 10 models are fast out of the blocks too. The key messages so far for 2024 are profit and speed. And the message to dealers is equally clear: It’s time to push forward, harness these opportunities…and thrive!”
Briefly turning to the top 10 for June 2024, the usual suspects are present – with the top three comprising the Ranger Rover Evoque (with an average retail margin of £3,925), Discovery Sport (£3,675) and Volvo XC60 (£3,000). However, as always, there were some unique opportunities for dealers to take note of – as TeeBoon notes: “On the face of it, the June top 10 features the broader trends usually seen in the Retail Margin Monitor, but the devil is in detail. The Mazda6 made its debut with an average retail margin of £2,575 and was the fastest seller of the top 10 – selling in 27 days on average. It’s essential to always dig that little bit deeper into the data.”
At brand level, the mid-year top 10 for 2024 is near-identical to the 2023 chart, apart from a mid-table place swap between Kia and Mazda. As with the model table, the brand profits have also seen uplifts. For example, top-place Land Rover clocked an average margin of £3,750 (vs £3,425 in 2023), BMW £2,775 (vs £2,700 in 2023) and Mercedes-Benz £2,625 (vs £2,575 in 2023).
Kia, Volkswagen and Nissan proved consistent performers in the mainstream arena. TeeBoon notes: “Luxury brands have made a strong showing so far in 2024, but mainstream brands are certainly not to be overlooked. This is echoed at model level; while luxury derivatives clearly dominate, the Hyundai Tucson is in there with a healthy profit.”
He concluded: “Looking ahead, 2024 is shaping up to be a positive year and hopefully these high profits and quick sales continue in the second half of the year. But while this mid-year round-up is a brilliant indicator of long-term trends, it’s important to stay attuned to the most up-to-date insights. Checking out the supply and demand data for your local market gives dealers the confidence to diversify their stock profiles and take full advantage of the opportunities 2024 brings.”
Richard Walker, Auto Trader’s Data & Insights Director, added:
“As ever, the Retail Margin Monitor complements what we’re seeing in our data which points to very robust used car market fundamentals; consumer demand is robust, and cars are selling at pace, which combined with a recent softening in supply, means retail prices continue to return to seasonal norms. For those retailers utilising the data available to help source and set price, there’s real margin potential to be had.”
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About Dealer Auction
Dealer Auction is the UK’s leading digital remarketing platform. 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.
Notes:
1The average ‘Auto Trader Retail Rating’ uses three key metrics to determine the consumer demand for the vehicle:
- Average days to sell – Calculated for the whole of the UK and then adjusted for the variations Auto Trader have observed locally in your area.
- Live market supply – Comparing the national supply level for the vehicle over the last seven days with the usual level of supply Auto Trader have seen in the market over the last six months.
- Live buyer demand – Analysing how many people are currently searching for the vehicle on Auto Trader, comparing consumer search behaviour over the last seven days against the level of interest over the last six months.
