KIA SPORTAGE TAKES THE CROWN FOR THE UK’S FASTEST SELLING USED CAR OF 2016

Auto Trader, the UK’s largest marketplace for new and used cars, has announced the top ten fastest selling used cars of 2016, with Kia’s 2014 Sportage taking the top spot. It took an average of just 23 days for the compact SUV to leave the forecourt.

The Korean company provides a seven-year warranty on all its new cars. This means that even with a 2014 model buyers can enjoy five years of the manufacturers’ warranty, which would have contributed to the Sportage’s huge appeal with used car buyers last year.

The Kia was followed into second place by the Toyota AYGO (2014), which took an average of 24 days to sell, and Nissan’s Qashqai +2 (2013) coming in third, with 25 days. While the Qashqai (2013) wasn’t the UK’s fastest selling car of 2016, it was certainly the Capital’s, taking an average of just 11 days for London dealers to sell it.

Surprisingly, the Ford Fiesta, which was identified as the UK’s fastest selling used car in 2015, didn’t make it onto 2016’s top ten list. However, it did boast a strong performance across many of the regional top ten lists, and was the fastest selling used car 2016 in the North West, South West, Wales and the West Midlands.

Karolina Edwards-Smajda, Auto Trader Retailer & Consumer Products Director, said: “It’s not a surprise that the fantastic Kia Sportage took 2016’s crown for the UK’s fastest selling car. It’s performed exceptionally well throughout the year and during a period of turbulence the Sportage, with Kia’s seven-year warranty, represents exceptional value for money and real peace of mind."

“Despite the turbulence in 2016, consumer confidence has remained extremely strong which has been reflected in both used and new car sales. Whilst undoubtedly 2017 will see some real challenges for the industry, with greater deals and financing options available we can expect the used car market to remain buoyant.”

Simon Hetherington, Commercial Director of Kia Motors (UK) Limited said: “The all-new Kia Sportage has been a remarkable success since its launch early in 2016 – building on the already immense popularity of the previous generation. Our experience in the showroom and on the Used Car lot backs up Auto Trader’s results and clearly indicates that the Sportage’s stand-out styling, excellent performance and value and of course our still industry-leading seven year warranty make the car the must-have amongst discerning private and company car drivers.”

The Auto Trader data, which is also released monthly, shows the fastest selling used vehicles both nationally and by region, providing motor industry commentators and retailers with used car sales trend data.

In December, the Citroen C4 Picasso (2013), took the number one position, followed by the Volvo V40 (2012) and the Vauxhall Corsa (2016).

The UK’s Top 10 Fastest Selling Cars in 2016:

Users of i-Control took an average time to sell of 32 days versus a market average of 66 days in December 2016. This means those dealerships using our data insights tool now outperform the market by over 52%.

i-Control tracks live market movements, recommends what stock to buy, where to find it, how much to pay for it, and how much to sell it for taking into account regional differences in desirability – and is proven to improve stock turn, as we’ve seen, by 52%.

Using a combination of daily guide prices from over 4,500 dealer websites, the 500,000+ ads on autotrader.co.uk and price data from all major auctions, fleet & lease companies and manufacturers, i-Control provides accurate valuations ensuring retailers’ stock is competitively priced from day one.

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