Jaguar has re-entered Dealer Auction’s top 10 brands for the first time since September, with an average retail margin of £3,300, securing second place, behind JLR stablemate Land Rover (£4,000).
Dealer Auction’s marketplace director Kieran TeeBoon, commenting, said Jaguar’s resurgence after a seven-month hiatus demonstrates the importance of staying on top of changing consumer demand.
“Jaguar has always been a big profit turner but this month it hit our units sold threshold, indicating rekindled buyer interest. Whether this marks a lasting trend remains to be seen, but it certainly prompts a closer examination of shifting market dynamics.”
According to Dealer Auction’s Retail Margin Monitor for April, Škoda was another new entry, joining for the first time this year. It ranked in tenth place, with an average retail margin of £2,225.
Continuing the trend of premium brands delivering strong returns, third-place BMW (£2,950) enjoyed a strong month all round, with its 5 and 3 Series models ranking third and fourth in the model top 10 with average retail margins of £3,400 and £3,050 respectively.
April was a strong month for Land Rover, with three featuring in the list. The Discovery Sport topped the chart with an average retail margin of £5,000 – the highest estimated profit achieved so far this year and just short of the highest-ever margin achieved (the Land Rover Discovery 4 clocked a profit of £5,100 in August 2022).
The Range Rover Evoque followed in second place (£3,825) and the Freelander 2 appeared for the first time since July 2023, securing tenth spot (£2,590).
Another standout was the family SUV Mazda CX-5 – not only the fastest-selling profit-turner in April, but also the fastest in 2024 so far, with an average of 31 days to sale.
The only mainstream model to feature was the Ford S-MAX, which appeared for the third time although other mainstream models like the Ford Kuga and Hyundai Tucson performed well.
TeeBoon concluded: “The appearance of the S-MAX people carrier isn’t exactly a shock twist, as the overall top 10 remains monopolised by premium brands. However, it could indicate seasonal shifts in consumer preferences towards family-oriented models. With so many different forces at play in the used car market, there could well be potential for family cars to carve out a significant share in the summer market.”
Richard Walker, data and insight director at Auto Trader, added: “Healthy margins are indicative of the strong underlying health of the market. On Auto Trader we’re seeing retailers sell more stock, and more quickly as the very robust consumer demand we’ve tracked since the new year continues into Q2.”
