A new study names the South East as the biggest lover of Volkswagens in the UK

Online auction specialist reveals a selection of rare and collectable VW’s at auction

Lost, forgotten and now worth a fortune; barn finds hold an irresistible appeal for most car enthusiasts. And following a 50% increase in interest for ‘Volkswagen Beetle’ in the past 12 months1, a new study reveals which areas of the UK are VW hotspots.

Having unveiled an incredible barn find filled with 20 rare and collectable RHD classic Volkswagen’s, online asset disposal specialists BPI Auctions reveals the top five UK regions with the most VW car lovers² by analysing the number of licensed cars at the end of the year by make and region.

The results reveal the top five UK regions with the most VW car lovers are:

  1. South East (515,700)
  2. South West (301,200)
  3. North West (274,900)
  4. East (268,800)
  5. London (251,400)

According to the study, the South East, home to major towns and cities including Brighton and Hove, Milton Keynes, Southampton, Portsmouth, Slough, Reading and Oxford, is the biggest lover of Volkswagens in the UK with over 515,700 car owners.

The new research indicates that there is no south or north divide, as both North West (274,900) and South West (301,300) also appear to have a huge amount of VW car owners. Missing from the top five, it seems the West Midlands and Yorkshire prefer British and American brands such as Ford or Vauxhalls.

BPI can also reveal that in the UK there is particular interest in models including VW Beetles with ‘Volkswagen Beetle for sale’ receiving 1,900 Google searches on average per month4 and VW Campervan with ‘Volkswagen Campervan for sale’ also seeing 1.900 Google searches on average per month4.

With the search term ‘collecting cars auction’ seeing an uplift of 90%3 in the past 12 months, VW lovers looking to grow their collection across the UK will be excited to know a selection of rare and collectable right hand drive (RHD) classic Volkswagen’s direct from a single enthusiast’s collection are now available via BPI Auctions.

The auction (ending 28th April 2022) features 20 vehicles, including Split Window Microbus, Double Cab Pick-up, Ambulance, Notchback, Karmann Ghia, Autovilla Campers, Bay Windows and various Beetles manufactured between 1957 and 1983. All the vehicles have spent their lives in a warm, dry climate and are original RHD examples.

Marcus Smith, Operations Director at BPI Auctions said: “It’s great to see there are so many VW lovers in the UK. From Beetles to Vans, the classic cars have been extremely popular for classic car collectors, road trips and even converting into new ventures.

“We were incredibly excited to get our hands on such rare cars for our bidders; they are classic collectables! We have already seen huge interest on social media, and we anticipate an even higher level of interest when it comes to bidding. We would encourage interested parties to register and submit their bids ahead of the closing bid on the 28th of April.”

BPI Auctions is the market leader in online asset disposal and has a proud history of success since 2010. It manages the entire selling process, including valuation, collection, storage, marketing and auctioning of B2B assets. Individuals can add their classic vehicles to our monthly online auctions, which attract over 5,000 registrants per year.

Viewing are available on 26th April between 12pm and 4pm in Doncaster, contact the BPI office to arrange an appointment. Find out more about the VW auction or to register your interest in the auction please visit: https://bpiauctions.com/auctions/#!/auctionDetails/4010.

Sources:

  1. Google trends – results for the search term ‘Volkswagen beetle’ has increased by 50% in the past 12 months
  2. Department for Transport – Licensed cars at the end of the year by make and region, United Kingdom, 2020
  3. Google trends – results for the search term ‘collecting cars auction’ has increased by 90% in the past 12 months
  4. Information gathered from Semrush on 19th April 2022 based on search terms ‘Volkswagen beetle for sale’ and ‘Volkswagen campervan for sale’