Wholesale demand for used diesel cars remains ‘very strong’, according to remarketing company Autorola.

It said an analysis of cars sold on its MarketPlace platform in Q2 showed a rise in average diesel car prices of 0.7%.

Diesels accounted for 19.6% of sales on the platform during the quarter, compared with 63.6% for petrol, 12.9% for hybrids, and 3.9% for EVs.

Autorola UK director Jon Mitchell said: “Diesel has been written off from all quarters as new car sales continue to fall, but in the used sector they accounted for one in five used cars sold to dealers online in Q2.

“Demand has remained consistent since 2020, but at some point, we expect the market to reach a tipping point where prices rise due to new car sales falling for the past five years.”

Values of used petrol, hybrid, and electric cars were up by 2.9%, down by 3.6%, and up by 9.1% respectively, with Autorola attributing the latter figure to model mix rather than market demand.

Mitchell said: “Q2 has been a very positive quarter for used cars following a tough end to 2023. 

“Demand and sales volumes were down compared with the same period in 2023, but the market has bounced back in 2024. We believe it will remain buoyant well into 2025.”