Latest figures from Dealer Auction show the German saloon car was a potential winner for used car dealers, netting an average retail margin of £2,500.
The car, which has an average Auto Trader Retail Rating of 73, also took 33 days on average to shift from dealers’; forecourts.
Following the C-Class, and delivering a potential retail margin of just £50 less, is the Mercedes A-Class, followed by the BMW Series at £2,425.
While the A-Class was a fresh entry, July’s top 10 was otherwise composed of previous top performers from the year – including the BMW 3 Series (£2,425), Peugeot 3008 (£2,350) and BMW 1 Series (£2,330) in third to fifth places.
May and June’s respective top profit makers, the Hyundai Tucson and Ford Kuga, also remained in the chart.
Dealer Auction also looked at the cars retailing for over £10,000, and found that last month painted the same picture to June’s, with the Volvo XC90 giving a potential retail margin on £4,900, followed by the Land Rover Discovery Sport at £4,275, and the Range Rover Evoque at £3,960.
It means that in both categories – sub-£10,000 and over £10,000 – premium cars lead the way.
For brands, Land Rover was the most profitable car brand in the sub-£10,000 market with an average retail margin of £3,050, followed by Mercedes-Benz (£2,500), BMW (£2,400), Audi (£2,375), and Volvo (£2,235).
Commenting on the data, Dealer Auction’s marketplace director, Kieran TeeBoon, said: ‘When we changed the way we published our data at the start of 2025 – splitting the data set into two brackets: vehicles with a retail value of £0–£9,999 and over £10,000 – the expectation might have been more twists and turns, month to month.
‘While July’s top 10 may come as a surprise to some, it’s precisely what makes these models’ performance more compelling. In a more diverse dataset, repeated success is evidence of genuine, sustained consumer demand, something dealers can rely on when sourcing stock.’
TeeBoon added: ‘July saw premium makes and models delivering solid returns across both retail segments, which reflects strong consumer sentiment. This is supported by Auto Trader’s latest used car prices update, which stated that nine out of 10 people are at least as confident, if not more so, in their ability to afford their next car.
‘As we move further into the second half of 2025, it’s brilliant to see this demand.’
1. Mercedes-Benz C-Class
2. Mercedes-Benz A-Class
3. BMW 3 Series
4. Peugeot 3008
5. BMW 1 Series
6. Citroen C3
7. Peugeot 2008
8. Hyundai Tucson
9. Ford Kuga
10. Honda CR-V
