Budget SUVs made car dealers strong money in May while BMW was most profitable brand

Budget SUVs gave strong profits to used cars dealers in May, while BMW was the car brand that made dealers the most cash.

Dealer Auction’s latest Retail Margin Monitor revealed that some of the UK’s most popular family SUVs from volume brands chalked up some of the highest profits for dealers in the budget market.

The Hyundai Tucson clocked the highest profit margin in the sub-£10,000 bracket with £2,700 – the biggest margin so far in 2025 – closely followed by the Vauxhall Mokka X (£2,675).

The Nissan Qashqai also continued to perform well as the fastest mover in the chart, selling in 28 days on average.

The full list is below.

Following the pattern of 2025 so far, May was a month of SUV dominance, with the only two non-SUVs in the sub-£10,000 chart being BMWs.

Meanwhile, for models retailed above £10,000, Land Rover continues to lead the way.

The Discovery Sport achieved an average margin of £4,325 – again, the top number for 2025 so far – followed by the Range Rover Evoque (£3,925).

Peugeot staked a claim once more, with the 3008 in fifth place (£3,050), while there was a surprise entry in fourth with the Ford Focus (£3,218).

BMW was the brand that gave dealers the most profit in the sub-£10,000 bracket, with an average retail margin of £2,450.

Dealer Auction’s marketplace director, Kieran TeeBoon, said: ‘It’s brilliant to see mainstream brands like Peugeot and Hyundai going toe to toe with premium brands.

‘There’s a huge appetite for used cars at the moment, with the SMMT recently announcing that the Q1 market surpassed two million units for the first time since pre-pandemic 2019.

‘Interestingly, the Tucson and Qashqai were also among the SMMT’s top 10 most popular used models for the quarter, showing they aren’t just niche profit wins – they also offer consistent, broad-based appeal.’

TeeBoon added: ‘BMW has certainly shown its mettle. We always see a lot of shuffling in the makes and models charts, but BMW’s dominance is unchallenged in capturing dealer attention.

‘However, there was more diversity further down the table, with Mercedes-Benz, Peugeot and Volvo performing well – reinforcing the importance of looking at the latest insights to outpace the market.’

The full data is listed below.

Hyundai Tucson

Average Retail Margin: £2,700

Average Days to Sell (Auto Trader): 30

Retail Rating (Auto Trader): 80

Vauxhall Mokka X

Average Retail Margin: £2,675

Average Days to Sell: 35

Retail Rating: 68

Peugeot 2008

Average Retail Margin: £2,575

Average Days to Sell: 31

Retail Rating: 78

Peugeot 3008

Average Retail Margin: £2,500

Average Days to Sell: 34

Retail Rating: 77

BMW 1 Series

Average Retail Margin: £2,375

Average Days to Sell: 29

Retail Rating: 84

Ford Kuga

Average Retail Margin: £2,350

Average Days to Sell: 31

Retail Rating: 78

Kia Sportage

Average Retail Margin: £2,325

Average Days to Sell: 31

Retail Rating: 78

Renault Captur

Average Retail Margin: £2,250

Average Days to Sell: 38

Retail Rating: 62

Nissan Qashqai

Average Retail Margin: £2,200

Average Days to Sell: 28

Retail Rating: 86

BMW 3 Series

Average Retail Margin: £2,195

Average Days to Sell: 36

Retail Rating: 73

BMW

Average Retail Margin: £2,450

Mercedes-Benz

Average Retail Margin: £2,400

Peugeot

Average Retail Margin: £2,175

Volvo

Average Retail Margin: £2,150

Audi

Average Retail Margin: £2,100

Citroën

Average Retail Margin: £2,080

Hyundai

Average Retail Margin: £2,075

Mazda

Average Retail Margin: £2,070

Nissan

Average Retail Margin: £2,065

Renault

Average Retail Margin: £2,025