Honda has entered the highest 10 manufacturers checklist for the primary time for the reason that launch of Supplier Public sale’s Retail Margin Monitor two years in the past

With a mean retail margin of £2,245, the Japanese tremendous model secured tenth place, becoming a member of fellow mainstream makes Kia and Nissan in January.

Land Rover drew the very best margin (£4,300), over £1,000 greater than second-place BMW (£3,100). Volvo got here in third (£3,025), carefully adopted by Mercedes-Benz (£3,020).

The highest 10 follows an identical sample to the 2023 annual round-up, launched final month, noticed extra variety between premium and mainstream makes within the high 10 than in previous years – regardless of Land Rover ruling the roost for the third 12 months operating.

Supplier Public sale market director Kieran TeeBoon, commented: “It’s encouraging to witness the alternatives supplied by each premium and mainstream makes. As we speed up by way of 2024, in opposition to a unstable backdrop, this duality not solely displays the varied shopper preferences but additionally underscores the significance of versatility. Sellers take word: catering to the spectrum of fast-changing buyer calls for is vital to making sure a worthwhile 12 months.”

At mannequin degree, the Land Rover Discovery Sport topped the charts as soon as once more, with a mean retail margin of £4,825, adopted by the Volvo XC90 (£4,600) and Vary Rover Evoque (£4,275).

Whereas the 2023 round-up noticed a clear sweep for luxurious derivatives, January signalled extra variety, with the Nissan X-Path and Škoda Excellent claiming the ninth and tenth spots, respectively. The X-Path hasn’t been seen within the Retail Margin Monitor since Might 2023, whereas the Excellent final appeared in 2022.

One other mannequin that delivered robust returns was the sixth-place Mitsubishi Outlander. It clocked a mean retail margin of £3,050, however it was notably the quickest vendor within the high 10 and ranked with the very best common Auto Dealer Retail Ranking.

TeeBoon mentioned: “It’s fascinating to see these traits throughout the high 10 itself. The efficiency of the Outlander definitely makes it one to look at. Whereas the market stays in a transitional interval, it’s essential that sellers don’t look again and as an alternative embrace evolving market dynamics, utilizing all of the obtainable knowledge at their disposal.”

Maybe conspicuous by their absence within the high 10 tables are electrical fashions, with hypothesis that formidable government-mandated gross sales targets have triggered aggressive worth reductions on brand-new EVs – due to this fact pushing down used residual values on used electrical fashions.

On this, TeeBoon mentioned: “A extra reasonably priced used EV provide isn’t essentially a nasty factor for the business as for some customers they may current a extra viable different to brand-new fashions. It merely means sellers have to be extra savvy about the place they search these increased revenue margins – and diversify their inventory accordingly.”

Richard Walker, director of knowledge and insights, commented: “The various vary of autos within the Retail Margin Monitor showcase the numerous alternatives obtainable to retailers proper now. The variety of visits to our market reached an all-time excessive of over 85 million in January, which highlights how strong present shopper demand is.

“Given such optimistic market fundamentals, it’s disappointing to nonetheless see inventory being priced beneath true market worth, significantly of what we’d name the best-of-the-best. By not making use of a retail-back method to pricing, retailers are liable to promoting themselves quick and lacking out on important revenue alternatives.”