SMMT Used Car Sales Q4 2021

Used car market up despite volatile year

• UK used car transactions grow 11.5% in 2021 with 7,530,956 units changing hands.
• Weaker Q4, down -3.1%, contrasts with record Q2 to round off a volatile year.
• Record demand for used battery electric vehicles, up 119.2% with 40,228 transactions.
• Overall used car market still down -5.5% on pre-pandemic five-year average.

The UK’s used car market grew by 11.5% to 7,530,956 transactions in 2021, according to the latest figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). 777,997 more cars changed hands than in 2020, a year which was even more badly affected by Covid lockdowns and unsettled consumer and business confidence. Despite this growth, the 2021 performance was still -5.5% below the pre-pandemic five-year average.

Quarter four rounded off a volatile year for the market, with transactions falling by -3.1% to just over 1.6 million, as semiconductor shortages impacting new car sales in the second half of the year squeezed supply of stock into the used market. The second quarter was, in fact, the best Q2 on record and, with 2.1 million transactions, the busiest period of the year as the UK emerged from renewed lockdowns. May was the highpoint with 769,782 cars finding new keepers in the month, while December performance fell by -10.2% as Omicron cases rose and restrictions increased.

Annual demand for battery electric (BEV) and plug-in hybrid electric (PHEVs) vehicles hit record levels, growing by 119.2% and 75.6% to 40,228 and 56,861 transactions respectively. Hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) transactions also rose by 50.3% to 137,639, a new high. Growth was driven by an increasing number of ultra-low and zero-emission models filtering through to second owners and, combined, these vehicles represented 3.1% of the market.

Used petrol and diesel powertrain transactions, meanwhile, increased by 10.7% and 9.8% respectively, with a combined 7,277,291 units changing hands. It meant that even with record demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles, 96.6% of all used car sales were still either petrol or diesel models, evidence of how far the market must go to meet zero emission ambitions.