SURGING DEMAND for electric vehicles marked the biggest change in a remarkably stable online used car market in 2021, new analysis has revealed.

Popular online used car supermarket BuyaCar.co.uk reports that the average age of its customers fell from 37 to 36. And the age most strongly represented among buyers reduced from 28 to 26. They were also even more likely to live in or around a major city than in previous years.

Analysts also say that the trend which previously saw women account for the lion’s share of growth in BuyaCar’s online used car sales reversed in 2021, with women accounting for 40% of all transactions compared with 43% in 2020.

BuyaCar’s analysis of 2021 performance reflects the headline-grabbing increases in car prices which resulted from global component and new car supply issues. Average prices paid on BuyaCar.co.uk rose from £12,917 in 2020 to £15,068 last year.

Buyers also chose slightly older cars, with higher mileages, as a way of navigating the market-wide increase in prices. Average mileage consequently increased from 25,500 in 2020 to 27,102 in 2021.

Remarkably, the 10 most popular models sought on BuyaCar.co.uk were unchanged on the year before, dominated again by the perennially popular Mercedes A-Class.

However, the biggest sign of changes to come was an unprecedented increase in searches for used electric vehicles, which averaged over the year at 14.2% of all searches.

Christofer Lloyd, Editor of BuyaCar.co.uk, said: “What is perhaps most remarkable about our used car sales during 2021 was their stability during a time of such upheaval across the wider industry.

“Our customers demonstrated strong interest in EVs, but still mostly opted for exactly the same favourites as the year before, such as the Mercedes A-Class, Audi A3 and Ford Focus.

“We’re excited to see the rapid growth of EV sales in the new car market because that is key to a much-needed increase in supply of the used EVs our customers clearly want.”