Vehicle volumes set to fall as used car market enters final quarter says NAMA

“Half of respondents in this month’s NAMA survey are expecting volumes to fall over the coming month. Volumes of vehicles arriving at auction centres generally reduce towards the end of the year, and this year appears to be no different,” said Louise Wallis, head of the National Association of Motor Auctions (NAMA), commenting on the latest figures from NAMA’s market attitude survey.

50 per cent of remarketing centres expect conversion rates to improve, with just 10 per cent expecting them to decrease.  First time conversion rates are also expected to improve by half of those who completed the survey. Lower volumes of good quality cars are ensuring those vehicles that are well priced and in good condition are selling well.

Vehicle values are expected to remain steady, with 80 per cent of respondents predicting petrol values will increase or remain similar to the previous month. Petrol vehicles are proving popular with many buyers who are concerned about Government clean air policy and not always understanding that diesel vehicles are still the best choice for their driving needs. Respondents are also expecting to see diesel values remain at the same levels as last month.

Values of Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV) continue to show signs of improvement, with 12 per cent excepting them to rise this month, however the majority of respondents are expecting to see similar levels to October.  Values of Hybrid and Plug-in Hybrid both appear to be stable according to over half of participants.

Euro 6 vans continue to perform strongly with over 85 per cent of respondents expecting values to increase or remain steady.  This market has shown strong performance during the year and this looks set to continue.  Pre-Euro 6 vans are expected to be less strong, but still 80 per cent of respondents expect their values to remain stable.  Similar to petrol cars, Government policy continues to drive Euro 6 van sales as companies trade their older pre-euro 6 vans to comply with clean air zones.

Wallis continued, “Overall vehicle auctions are responding well to the market and performing in line with expectations for this time of year.

“Shorter supply of vehicles is helping conversion rates and values.  Even with the considerable political uncertainty of the General Election and Brexit, the wholesales market is showing a good level of resilience. We expect to see a strong used car market in the final months of 2019.”