Vauxhall Astra Fastest Selling Used Car of January 2016

Vauxhalls are flying off forecourts in the UK, as the Astra Estate and Insignia hatchback variants take first and second fastest selling car titles for January 2016, selling in just 25 and 26 days respectively.

The 2015 fastest selling car of the year, the Ford Fiesta, dropped out of the national top ten this month, but featured in nearly every regional list, dominating the top ten in Northern Ireland with four different variants of the ever popular model.

Drivability and practicality were paramount concerns amongst buyers nationwide as nine out of the top ten vehicles were sold with manual transmissions, and six of the top ten were larger model variants –specifically estate, SUV and MPVs. The recent drop in diesel prices did not seem to be a factor however, with an equal spilt between petrol and diesel vehicles.

Nissan models continued to be popular amongst UK car buyers, appearing in nearly every regional top ten. The hugely successful Qashaqai model featured three times in the top ten for London, and topped lists in South West and Wales. Other Nissan models, namely the Note, Juke, Micra and X-Trail, appeared multiple times in many of the regional top ten lists, especially in the North East, home to the Nissan factory in Sunderland.

The Fiat 500 appeared in nearly every regional top ten list– topping lists in Scotland and the South, while customers in the South East were eagerly preparing for some winter weather as they snapped up Land Rovers – four models appeared in the regional top ten, with the Discovery featuring twice.

January is always a busy month for car sales as customers are tempted by a new or newer vehicle for the New Year, and with competitive finance deals available, the online trend is moving towards more aspirational vehicles when searching for a car, however the fastest selling used sales results still favour practicality.

Auto Trader's forecourt management tool, i-Control continues to give dealers a better than 50% increase on stock turn, with those using the tool turning stock within 36 days on average in January, compared to a whole market average of 73 days.

Auto Trader estimates that over 52% of all cars on the classified website are not well matched to local demand. Forecourt management tools, such as i-Control can track live market movements, recommend stock to buy, where to find it, how much to pay and how much to sell it for taking into account regional differences in supply and demand – and improve stock turn by over 50%.

Karolina Edwards-Smajda, Auto Trader Retailer & Consumer Products Director said: “The start of a new year is always a busy time for Auto Trader, and thanks to our latest TV advert, traffic to the site has increased, and as a result, adviews have been considerably higher than this time last year. It is also very positive to see that i-Control is continuing to halve the time dealer stock is sitting on forecourts for. By providing insight into live market pricing trends and regionally desirably, retailers are able to source stock knowing there are buyers ready to buy in their local area.”

ENDS