Used hybrid car prices rose in 2025 while petrol, diesel and EV values fell, as the wider used car market underperformed, according to Autorola.
Autorola’s annual online used car sales review found hybrids were the only fuel type to record a price increase during the year, despite ongoing shortages of used vehicles across the market.
Average used hybrid prices on Autorola’s MarketPlace online wholesale platform rose by 1.2%, or £269, from £21,249 to £21,528.
These vehicles averaged 33 months old with 22,302 miles. By contrast, petrol cars recorded the largest fall, down 4.3% or £679, from £15,638 to £14,959, at an average age of 41 months and 23,803 miles.
Diesel prices fell by 3.4%, or £711, from £20,624 to £19,913, with vehicles averaging 39 months and 34,387 miles. Used EVs saw the smallest decline, down 2.7% or £477, from £17,521 to £17,044, at an average of 31 months and 19,490 miles.
The overall performance came despite constrained used car supply in 2025, following reduced new car registrations in 2021 and 2022 due to Covid related disruption.
Neil Frost, Autorola UK managing director, (pictured above) said: “Generally, when there is a shortage of used cars in the market, demand exceeds supply and prices rise.
“Last year was different in that there were a number of economic factors which reduced consumer and wholesale confidence, so sales never really took off, and prices either stagnated or fell.
“The used car sector has been stable, but we expected it to be more buoyant than it was.
“It will be interesting to see how 2026 shapes up with more used cars coming back into the market.”
In terms of fuel mix, hybrids and EVs accounted for 22.1% of Autorola MarketPlace sales in 2025, compared with 17.7% the previous year.
Hybrids made up 16.7% of sales, while EVs accounted for 5.4%, up from 14.5% and 3.2% respectively in 2024.
This growth came largely at the expense of petrol vehicles, whose share fell from 63.9% to 58.5%. Diesel’s share remained broadly unchanged at 19.3%.
Frost added: “Wholesale demand for EVs remained slow in 2025, but hybrids continued to go from strength to strength.
“However, there is still work to do to build wholesale buyer confidence to stock and sell used EVs to ensure demand keeps up with the growing supply of zero-emission cars coming back into the market.”