South Goes Mad For Nearly New Beemers And Vauxhalls In July

• The UK's fastest selling car in July was the 2012 BMW 1 Series Petrol Auto
• Vauxhall's Insignia took its place in the national top ten for the third month in a row
• The average price of the nation's ten fastest selling cars rose by more than £2,500, from an average of £9,450 in June to £11,999 in July
• Five BMW models made the Southern region's top ten fastest sellers, alongside four Vauxhall variants

The country's largest automotive marketplace for new and used vehicles has just published its latest tables of fastest selling cars. Auto Trader figures covering July reveal that the 2012 BMW 1 Series Petrol Auto was the quickest seller nationally, taking an average of just 17 days to turn. Overall, models in the national top ten sold in around 20 days. This was the same as in June, however their average price rose by more than £2,500.

The Vauxhall Insignia held a national top ten spot for the third month in a row. And regionally, the Nissan Qashqai continued to shine with model variants making the top ten in seven UK regions. London was a hotspot. 2012 Diesel and petrol Qashqai variants took the top two positions, turning in an average of just 12 days.

"Once again our figures show how quickly the market can change," said Karolina Edwards-Smajda, Auto Trader Director, Retailer & Consumer Products. "Speed of sale is key and using market intelligence to complement experience can really help retailers keep one step ahead of the game - and help boost their profits.

"In June, for example, the average car turned in 52 days and last month that rose to 53. However for those using Auto Trader's i-Control product to manage their forecourts, the average days in stock were cut in half. Last month best practice users reported an average 29 day turn for cars on their forecourts."

Analysts at Auto Trader have also pointed to some interesting trends in the regional figures. In the South of England, for example, the top ten was dominated by BMW and Vauxhalls. The 3 Series took the first three positions, followed by the Insignia, Corsa and Zafira. Only the Passat from Volkswagen prevented a clean sweep for the German and American giants.

Meanwhile, the top ten for the East Midlands was also noteworthy in July, but for its close alignment with the SMMT ten new car sales figures. In total nine of the top ten fastest selling model variants also figured in the new car best sellers' table.

For all trade media enquiries, please contact:

Nigel Wonnacott, PR Director at JJ Marketing, on 07802 483 971 or nigel.wonnacott@jjmarketing.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

Auto Trader Group plc is a 100% digital business having successfully completed the transition from a print title in 2013. Auto Trader sits at the heart of the UK's vehicle buying process and operates the UK's largest digital automotive marketplace.

Auto Trader's primary activity is to help vehicle retailers compete effectively on the Marketplace in order to sell more vehicles, faster. The Marketplace brings together the largest and most engaged consumer audience. Autotrader.co.uk attracts around 44.5 million monthly cross-platform visits on its sites, with around 68% of visits coming through mobile devices, with the largest pool of vehicle sellers (listing more than 400,000 cars each day). In fact over 80% of all time spent on classified sites is spent on Auto Trader. The Group does not buy or sell any vehicles itself.

Auto Trader has around 92% prompted brand awareness in the UK, with 80% of UK retailer forecourts advertising via the website and around 65% of UK used car transactions involving cars listed on autotrader.co.uk.

Auto Trader's market-leading position enables it to generate and collect large amounts of data on the UK's automotive marketplace and leverage it to create a suite of services that allow retailers to:

• BUY – buy the right vehicles, at the right price
• MARKET - market their brands and businesses effectively in the digital world
• SELL- sell more vehicles through advertising on the UK's largest digital automotive marketplace
• MANAGE – optimise their stock turn and vehicle margin.

For more information please visit http://about-us.autotrader.co.uk/