Used car values in August rose 2.6 per cent (£187 to £7,390) following a rise of 4 per cent (£277) in July, according to Manheim’s latest market analysis.

Values are now 24% higher than 12 months ago.

Mirroring this value increase is the uplift in the per cent of cost new retained which is up 7 per cent to 39 per cent against August last year, despite vehicles now being three months older and having covered 2,200 miles more.

The August rise is the seventh month-on-month increase in values since the beginning of the year and sets an unprecedented seasonal trend.

Average values in all three sectors were up with fleet vehicles recording an increase of 3.1 per cent (£201 to £6,681), manufacturer’s stock rising by 1.2 per cent (£158 to £13,044) and the average value of dealer part-exchanges up by 8.9 per cent (£186 to £2,273).

Within the individual vehicle segments, examples of notable increases in average values include fleet-sourced Superminis and Compact Executive models which rose by 3.6 per cent (£141 to £4,025) and by 7.3 per cent (£639 to £9,331) respectively.

In the dealer part-exchange sector, medium family models rose by 9.3 per cent (£184 to £2,160) and executive models increased by 12.7 per cent (£396 to £3,520).

Meanwhile, in the manufacturer sector MPVs increased by 7.5 per cent (£907 to £13,071).

Mike Pilkington, managing director, Manheim Auctions & Remarketing said: “This is one of the strongest August periods we have seen, but it does reflect the continuing high levels of activity reported across all our UK auction centres. Although conversion rates have fallen slightly, demand remains very strong with no let-up in bidding activity both in the auction halls and online.”