More people in the UK are showing an interest in buying a luxury car, a 4x4 or an executive vehicle.

Such a conclusion was drawn from Auto Trader's latest research, which showed searches for all these motors on its website have been up in recent times.

Indeed, in the three months from September, searches for luxury cars increased by 4.1 per cent, while the number of people showing an interest in 4x4s was up by three per cent and executive cars enjoyed a 3.3 per cent boom.

A number of different models are popular in these markets, with a quarter of all advertisements for 4x4 vehicles being Land Rovers, but the Porsche Cayenne is still the most profitable.

Jonathan Williams, marketing director at Auto Trader, said: "While the rise in 4x4 searches towards the end of the year can be seen as a seasonal phenomenon, the corresponding surge in luxury and executive car searches does suggest consumer confidence has returned to the  market."

Overall, some 466 million searches were made on the site between September and November last year, indicating the car market is becoming increasingly bullish. Everything from small city cars to sports vehicles and MPVs are becoming more popular with buyers.

In the coming months, this could translate into a rise in production levels at some of the UK's major car plants, perhaps triggering a recruitment drive for automotive jobs.

Mr Williams predicted there will in fact be a continuation of the rise in new car sales seen last year and this will eventually ease some of the pressure on used vehicle prices that exists at the moment. He added that new stock is likely to come on to the market at some point.

Right now, more than eight per cent of all the stock advertised on Auto Trader is a 4x4, while two of the three models that showed the biggest monthly gains in searches in November were also off-road vehicles.

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