Used diesel car values rise more than any other fuel type in past year and some

Britons are finding it increasingly difficult to buy new diesel cars as the industry sounds the death knell on the ‘dirty’ fuel type.

Motorists are ‘running out of options’ as manufacturers continue to delete diesel engines from ranges, seeing availability tumble to record lows.

Market analysis shows almost half of mainstream brands have killed off diesel powertrain availability already.

This is reflected in registration data, which shows that just one in every 18 new cars bought this year (to the end of April) are diesels – a 13 per cent decline on the first five months of 2024 as supply dwindles.

But the used car market presents a different perspective on the level of demand for diesel as drivers continue to see their advantages, especially long-distance fuel economy.

The biggest second-hand car stockist in Britain says the average value of diesels have grown 1.6 per cent in the last 12 months – more than any other fuel type. We reveal the ones that are appreciating most in value… 

Is diesel dead? Britons will struggle to find new ones in showrooms today as car makers slash their availability. But used market data shows there’s still ample appetite for diesel in Britain…

A severe lack of new diesel options

The choice of new diesel cars has shrunk by 68 per cent in less than a decade, analysis by second-hand marketplace Car Gurus revealed last year.

Its review of the mainstream car market found just 65 diesel options across the 30 most popular manufacturers.

That’s scarce availability compared to a decade ago; in 2015, there were 202 different diesel models on sale in UK showrooms when around half of new car registrations were diesels.

And some major names have culled diesel engines completely.

Vauxhall, which had eight different new cars in 2015 with the choice of a diesel engine now has zero.

Toyota has also gone from a selection of seven diesel models to none in the same period, and Volvo (eight diesel variants available in 2015), Hyundai (seven), Fiat (seven), Nissan (six) and Honda (four) have also followed suit. Mini too has killed off its ‘D’ variants.

Ford has also gone from 13 different diesel options in 2015 to just two presently, while Peugeot has downgraded from 11 models to only a couple. Kia and Renault, which a decade ago offered a broad selection of diesels, are down to only one in their ranges today.

The rapidly diminishing choice of new diesel cars partly explains why diesel registrations have fallen off a cliff edge.

Winding the clocks back to 2014, official figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) shows 1.24million diesel cars were sold, accounting for more than half (50.1 per cent) of all new passenger vehicle registrations that calendar year.

Back then, they were heavily incentivised by the Government’s emissions-based car taxation (Vehicle Excise Duty) system that rewarded the lower CO2 emissions of diesel cars cheaper annual VED costs for owners.

However, everything changed in 2015 when the emissions cheating scandal was unearthed, sparking an environmental agenda against ‘dirty diesels’.

Hiked VED rates for diesels followed, along with the introduction of low emission zones, such as London’s ULEZ, which have much tougher compliancy rules for diesel cars than petrols, making them far less attractive to people living and commuting into cities.

Pressure has also mounted on manufacturers to down tools on diesel development, with governments around the world setting dates to outlaw the availability of internal combustion engine cars between 2030 and 2035.

As a result, diesel registrations in the UK have nosedived. Last year, just 123,104 were sold – a tenth of the volume entering the road a decade earlier – which was a 14 per cent decline on 2023 sales.

This chart highlights the huge decline in new diesel car sales in recent years. Diesel have represented just a fraction of registrations in the last two years as availability in showrooms declined. A decade earlier, diesels accounted for half of new cars entering the road annually

Used diesel market paints a vastly different picture…

A monumental decline in new car registrations isn’t mirrored on the used market.

Of the 7.6million second-hand transactions recorded last year, almost 2.7million were diesel – that represents a third (35 per cent) of all used cars to change hands in 2024.

A year earlier, 2.75million pre-owned diesels found new keepers, which was representative of 38 per cent of the 7.2million second-hand models bought and sold throughout 2023.