BenchmarklyAll benchmarks

Used car dealer companies in London

4,064 used car dealer companies have a registered office in London, and 1,642 of them were formed in 2025 or 2026. In their latest accounts, the typical one held £6,850 in cash and owed £18,419 at year end.

Companies House register, 1 September 2026, and accounts filed in the last twelve months. Compared with the official category “Sale of used cars and light motor vehicles” (SIC 45112).

The numbers

Used car dealer companies in London compared with the same category across the UK. Typical figures are medians.
MeasureLondonUK
Registered companies4,06437,612
Formed in 2025 or 20261,642 (40%)30%
Being struck off or in liquidation598 (15%)14%
Typical cash at year end£6,850498 accounts£18,268
Typical amount owed at year end£18,4191,418 accounts£38,899
Typical number of employees11,440 accounts1

What this means if you’re starting one

Cash is tight in this trade

At year end the typical used car dealer company in London holds £6,850 in cash and owes £18,419; that cash figure is lower than 66% of UK industries.

Typical operators end the year holding less cash than they owe, so there is little slack if takings dip or a big bill lands early.

London has fewer of these businesses than most places

Used car dealer companies are 0.36% of companies registered in London, against 0.69% UK-wide (0.5× the national share).

That could be a gap or a sign of weak demand. The register cannot tell which.

More of these companies are closing than in most trades

13% of used car dealer companies in London are currently being struck off, against 6.9% of all companies there. Nationally that rate is higher than 92% of UK industries.

Closures run high here. It is a churn signal, not a survival rate, but it means the common failure points are worth learning before you start.

Planning a business like this in London?

Answer two questions about your customer and what makes you different, and get a free three-week plan to test the idea before you spend real money. No account or card.

Check my idea

What these figures can’t tell you

Companies are counted where their registered office is, which may be an accountant or a home address rather than a shop. Sole traders and partnerships are not on the register, and electronically filed accounts cover roughly 60–75% of accounts filed each year. The figures describe companies that exist; they cannot prove demand for your idea or predict whether it will work. How the figures are built.

Used car dealer in other places

Other businesses in London

All business benchmarks in London