Ford and Vauxhall sold more than one million used cars between them last year as the two brands proved ever popular on forecourts across the nation.

The Ford Fiesta has been a constant top performer in the UK market and that trend continued in 2018, with 360,868 sales of the model which was first introduced to the British market in 1976. Number two on the list was Ford’s stablemate, the Focus, which with sales of 322,532 contributed to a healthy resale sheet for the US brand and left other brands in their wake.

The data provided by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders shows that there were a total of 7.9 million used car transactions in 2018, and though there was a slight decline on 2017 figures, it wasn’t as severe as the new car market and was still the third highest number of used car sales since records began in 2001.

Vauxhall featured prominently on the list with the Corsa (313,702) and Astra (262,201), second and fifth on the list respectively. Only the Volkswagen Golf with sales of 262,508 could make an impact on the top five.

James Fairclough, CEO at AA Cars, said: “The used car market slowed down slightly in the run up to Christmas with sales falling by 0.7 percent on the previous year. Considering the wider economic picture and ongoing consumer uncertainty, the market looks in remarkably fine fettle. Additionally, alternatively-fuelled vehicles continued to defy the overall downward trend and saw another uplift. Even though electric and hybrid cars still don’t make up a large proportion of the secondhand market, their ever-increasing uptake is a testament to the quality of stock available on used forecourts.”

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