Ford overtakes Vauxhall as ‘silver drivers’ car of choice

Ford has overtaken Vauxhall to become the car brand of choice for the growing over 65s market of ‘silver’ drivers.

New research by Carcraft, one of the UK’s largest used car hypermarket chains, reveals that almost one in five ‘silver’ drivers chose a Ford last year, knocking Vauxhall (which led the market in 2006) back into second place.

The research looked at over 4500 car buyers over the age of 65 and showed the Ford Focus to be the number one choice for ‘silver’ drivers last year, followed closely by the Vauxhall Astra and Corsa in second and third place respectively.

The Ford Fiesta and Mondeo also featured in the top five. Of the luxury car brands, Mercedes-Benz came out on top, with 2.5% of the over-65s market.

Barry Nightingale, managing director at Carcraft, commented: “With the over-65s age bracket making up over 16% of the UK population this is a very important market to us. We find that our older buyers are particularly brand loyal, with Ford and Vauxhall dominating the market, and they tend to make practical rather than emotional choices when buying their next car.”

According to the research by Carcraft, factors high on the list of car buying priorities for the over-65s include a higher seating position, mechanical reliability and power steering, with the most important factor of all being a car that is ‘going to last’.

Nightingale added: “Contrary to the belief that British retirees are splashing out on sports cars with their pension lump sums, they are among the shrewdest of car buyers, looking for low mileage, a good service history and warranty and great value for money.”