6 minute read
Top 10 unsellable cars
HERE ARE THE TOP 10 USED CARS THAT TAKE THE LONGEST TIME TO SELL
by James Baggott
@CarDealerEd
Meet The Unsellables. These are the used cars that take the longest time to leave car dealer forecourts in the UK.
Car Dealer Magazine has collated exclusive data to reveal the slowest-selling used cars across the country. eBay Motors Group assessed all used cars advertised on its website between March 2021 and March 2022 to uncover those that hung around the longest.
To weed out the high-end and ultra-rare models, eBay Motors Group only looked at cars that were advertised more than 1,000 times during the year.
At the top of the pile in the slowest-selling car stakes was the SsangYong Tivoli – which on average took 74.9 days to sell.
To work out the average days-to-sell figure, eBay Motors Group monitors when cars are advertised on its sites and when they are removed.
As a comparison, the fastest-selling used car of the year was the Alfa Romeo Stelvio – which found a new home in just 23.9 days.
The second slowest was the Nissan Elgrand, with took 67.5 days to sell, while in third place was another model from South Korean car maker SsangYong – the Korando – which hung about on forecourts for 65.6 days.
Dermot Kelleher, head of marketing and research for eBay Motors Group, said: ‘Although the demand for used cars was exceptionally high over the past 12 months there were inevitably some models that struggled to find buyers, regardless of price.
‘SsangYong’s Tivoli averaged 74.9 days to sell, despite being a compact SUV, making it the slowest seller overall.
‘However, it wasn’t just budget cars that struggled to find buyers. Our data shows Audi’s e-tron electric SUV was the fourth-slowest seller, averaging 63.5 days to sell, but we believe this is more a reflection of its top-end £64,634 price tag rather than its desirability.
‘Dealers worked hard to keep their stocks fresh over the past 12 months but even so, some models failed to resonate with buyers, highlighting the need to review the prices of slow sellers on a daily basis.
‘With the cost-of-living crisis impacting on the choices made by some used car buyers, this pricing agility will prove invaluable, especially if wider economic factors have a negative effect on demand.’
Okay, so perhaps the unsellables tag is a little unfair, but at least now if you have one of these models hanging around on your forecourt gathering dust, you know you’re probably not alone. Data from eBay Motors Group, which assessed cars that had more than 1,000 adverts on its sites between March 2021 and March 2022 to work out the average days to sell for each model over the year.
Dermot Kelleher
AUDI E-TRON
Days to sell: 63.5 Average price: £64,634
1
SSANGYONG TIVOLI
Days to sell: 74.9 Average price: £13,060
5
SKODA SCALA
Days to sell: 57.6 Average price: £16,510
2
NISSAN ELGRAND
Days to sell: 67.5 Average price: £10,015
6
MERCEDES-BENZ SL
Days to sell: 57.3 Average price: £26,740
3
SSANGYONG KORANDO
Days to sell: 65.6 Average price: £14,594
7=
SEAT MII
Days to sell: 56.4 Average price: £6,583
7=
MERCEDES-BENZ CLK 8
SUZUKI SX4 9
SKODA KAMIQ 10
SKODA CITIGO
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The past two years have presented big challenges for dealers – and if the struggle of navigating the post-pandemic world wasn’t enough already, the global manufacturing issues that have followed have had, and continue to have, a serious knock-on effect on the industry.
Demand from consumers still remains strong, however. Our research found that almost a third (31 per cent) of car owners intend buying a new car this year, while nearly a fifth (18 per cent) will opt for a secondhand model. The challenge for dealers is twofold – ensuring they’re stocking the vehicles that customers want and getting hold of the desired stock when competition is soaring.
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