(Bloomberg) -- If you're living in the U.K., chances are that you'll have to pay more for a used car than its brand-new equivalent.
Dealers are having such a tough time sourcing autos that 17% of vehicles no more than a year old are now more expensive than their new equivalents, according to Auto Trader Group Plc. That's up from just 4% at the start of the year, the U.K. vehicle marketplace said Wednesday.
Used-car buyers in the U.K. spent about a quarter more to buy a pre-owned vehicle last week than in the same period last year as “exceptionally strong” demand clashes with low availability.
“We don't expect to see price growth slow anytime soon,” Richard Walker, who oversees data and insights at the group, said by email.
Popular cars such as Ford Motor Co.'s Focus and Kuga models are among those with the biggest price increases, Auto Trader said.
Automakers like Volkswagen AG and Stellantis NV remain in the grip of the global chip crunch that worsened during the third quarter when Covid-19 outbreaks idled chip packaging and testing facilities in Southeast Asia. Car sales in Europe are on course to fall even below the depressed levels seen last year, when pandemic restrictions choked deliveries.
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