The UK car parc
Pandemic, regulation and new competition have redrawn the UK car market. Our data tracks the shift — and we share what it tells us with customers, government and the industry at large.
How we turn change
into ongoing value
29%
electric's share of new car enquiries in April 2026, overtaking petrol for the first time ever
21%
of EV owners chose the same brand again, the lowest of any fuel type and the market's clearest conquest opportunity
44 days
average time to sell a used car for a mid-size franchise retailer trading via Auto Trader
How we turn change
into ongoing value
We help retailers stay ahead of a faster-moving parc through three areas of focus:
Electrification
Pricing and positioning a fast-growing EV parc
As electric moves from the margins to the mainstream, the cars entering the used parc are changing too. Demand for used EVs has grown across every age band — strongly enough that supply turned negative for the first time in April and May, with limited stock tempering growth since. Yet franchise retention of three-to-five-year-old electric and plug-in stock sits at just 40%, against 61% for petrol. We give retailers the data to price, source and retail electric with confidence, so the right cars reach the right buyers at the right value.
Conquest
Winning in a fragmented, lower-loyalty market
With over 75 brands now competing for UK buyers — rising beyond 100 by 2030 — and loyalty at a low of just 27%, falling to 21% among EV owners, every sale has become a conquest opportunity. New entrants are scaling at pace: the three Chery Group brands reached a combined 6.6% share between January and August, and one in three enquiries across petrol, hybrid and EV now falls in the keenly contested £20–£30k band. We help retailers see where demand is shifting and meet buyers in the segments and price points where the market is won.
Sourcing
Securing the right stock, keeping the right cars
As supply tightens across the core of the parc, sourcing — and retention — is where margin is made or lost. Franchise retailers keep just 44% of their three-to-five-year-old electric and plug-in cars, against 64% for petrol, while valuable part-exchange stock too often leaks to the wider market. By showing retailers which traded cars to retail themselves, we turn a leak into a profit process — prime stock that sells quickly and at a strong price, instead of being let go.
01
Electrification
02
Conquest
03
Sourcing
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