Auction house Manheim reported a significant increase in the sale of used cars for January.

At £6,054, the average wholesale used car selling price was 5.8% (£334) up in January compared with a 3.1% (£185) fall in December.

The average selling price increased in all three sectors – Fleet, Dealer and Manufacturer.

In the Fleet sector average month-on-month values rose by 9.0% (£425) compared with a fall of 3.1% (£149) in December.

In the Dealer sector average month-on-month values rose by 1.9% (£31) compared with a fall of 4.9% (£82) in the previous month.

The Manufacturer sector also saw a month-on-month increase of 3.2% (£284) compared with a fall of 5.0% (£465) in December.

Increases in average wholesale used car selling prices in January compared with December include the Small Hatchback, Large Family and Soft-Roader segments in the Fleet sector which rose by 10.6% (£373), 10.5% (£381) and 16.3% (£851) respectively.

In the Dealer sector, the Compact Executive segment rose by 8.0% (£182), the MPV segment rose by 7.5% (£148) and the Off-Roader segment increased by 26.2% (£710).

Mike Pilkington, Managing Director of Manheim Auctions & Remarketing said, “There is no doubt that dealers had reduced their stocks pre-Christmas and a lot of this current demand has been driven by the need to replenish empty forecourt spaces.

" Although there appears to be healthy consumer interest, it remains to be seen for just how long this will be sustained."