The latest figures on the used car market are showing stable values and healthy sales.
The statistics for the first three months of the year were produced by CAP HPI’s Black Book, and found a decent demand with a 7.7 per cent annual increase in the number of used vehicles being sold.
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Black Book said that the biggest price increases were for convertibles, which rose by 1.6 per cent, and city cars, which increased prices by 0.5 per cent. On average, used car prices rose by 0.1 per cent, pointing to a stable market.
Derren Martin, the Black Book senior editor, told AM-Online: “On the whole, trade values have been very stable since the turn of the year, with average reductions in Black Book live since that time being less than one per cent and in the case of city cars, values have actually been on the increase.
“This theme continued during March, although there were some very early signs of some prices tailing off slightly in the week leading up to Easter.”
However, dealer margins are being pushed, because buyers are reluctant to pay high prices for used vehicles. Because of strong new car sales since 2012, there are now more used vehicles coming on to the market, which is putting pressure on prices. There are already 2016 plate used cars beginning to appear for sale as used vehicles.
Mr Martin added: “This negative sentiment, however, does need to be tempered with the fact that retail demand for used cars remains healthy — consumers are still actively buying, interest rates are low, and the economy remains strong.”
