More than one in five people (21 per cent) say they ignore “advisories” highlighted on their MOT test, according to new research. May’s Startline Used Car Tracker shows that 12 per cent believe that if advisories were important, their car would fail its MOT, while 10 per cent say they can’t afford to get the advisories carried out and 5 per cent report that they only get their car repaired when it breaks down.
Retail values remain robust despite slight adjustments and the supply of 3–4-year-old cars is still being impacted by historical factors, according to the latest analysis from Percayso Vehicle Intelligence (PVI), the Automotive data intelligence specialist.
More than half of dealers (53 per cent) say consumer confidence is up – a six-month high for the Startline Used Car Tracker and a sharp increase from 34 per cent in February.
Used car buyer confidence in the UK is at its lowest level for six months, according to new research from Startline Motor Finance. February’s Startline Used Car Tracker shows the percentage of motorists who are positive about the idea of buying a used car has fallen from 59 per cent in August to 48 per cent now.
Delegates at the September meeting of the Vehicle Remarketing Association (VRA) were warned that the used Electric Vehicle (EV) market is in danger of “becoming skewed”. Andy Webb, head of sales from Brego, explained that fleet dominance of the EV market meant there were too many medium and large electric cars entering the remarketing cycle, and not enough smaller ones for everyday buyers.
Almost half of dealers (47 per cent) say that the Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate targets should be relaxed, according to new research. September’s Startline Used Car Tracker also shows that 52 per cent believe that the market needs more time to electrify. Additionally, 30 per cent think that manufacturers will end up being fined under the scheme, 28 per cent that the ZEV Mandate targets are too ambitious and 23 per cent that the targets will be scrapped.
Half of motorists (50 per cent) say the government should do more to make electric cars affordable, new research shows. June’s new Startline Used Car Tracker also finds that 35 per cent believe action should be taken to make electric cars easier to buy, 34 per cent that more money should go into making chargers more widely available, and 26 per cent that power from chargers should be cheaper.
The SMMT revealed that the UK’s used car market has grown by 6.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2024, with 1,967,923 transactions occurring through January, February, and March. The increase marks 16 months of successive growth and the strongest start to a year since pre-pandemic 2019. “The first quarter of 2024 has seen a period of remarkable growth in the used car market with a 6.5 per cent increase, marking the best start to a year since 2019”, said Sue Robinson, chief executive of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA).
More than half of UK fleets (54 per cent) are buying used cars for company use and a further quarter (24 per cent) plan to do so in the next three years, according to new research. The figures are taken from the 2024 Arval Mobility Observatory Fleet and Mobility Barometer, which questioned 8,605 businesses in 30 countries about their vehicle operations. The practice shows almost no variation across companies of different sizes among those surveyed, from companies with fewer than 10 employees through to those with more than 1,000.
“2023 proved to be a healthy year for the used car market, seeing four straight quarters of growth and growth of 5.1 per cent on 2022.”, said Sue Robinson, Chief Executive of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), commenting on the latest SMMT’s used car figures. The UK’s used car market has grown by 6.9 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2023, with 1,679,116 transactions. The year as a whole saw transactions up 5.1 per cent from 2022 to 7,242,692 transactions. Used battery electric vehicles (BEVs) saw an impressive 90.9 per cent growth for a 1.6 per cent market share in 2023 whilst plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) experienced 25.1 per cent growth and hybrids (HEVs) increased by 40.0 per cent.
More than half of dealers (55 per cent) expect 2024’s used car market to be better than this year’s, new research shows. September’s Startline Used Car Tracker shows that 45 per cent also believe there will be better stock supply and 43 per cent that demand for electric vehicles (EVs) will increase. However, just 25 per cent expect there to be an improvement in consumer confidence.
Used electric vehicle (EV) values could fall by a further 5-10% in the next few months, the latest Vehicle Remarketing Association (VRA) member meeting was told. Giving a presentation on market trends for different fuel types, Dean Bowkett of Bowkett Consulting said there continued to be an imbalance between used EV supply and demand, despite recent dramatic falls in value.
“Overall, the used car market is in a strong position heading towards the tail end of the year. Whilst the lack of new car registrations in the past two and a half years has stemmed the supply of used cars for forecourts, values reaching record heights has balanced this out. NAMA Members are reporting stable trading, and that the market is in a good position”, said Paul Hill National Association of Motor Auctions (NAMA) spokesman, after a meeting was held earlier this week with key industry figureheads to discuss current industry issues.
The UK’s used car market fell for the second consecutive quarter this year, with the SMMT reporting a 12.2% decline over the three months of July to September. Some 1,785,447 vehicles changed hands, the first time that quarter three transactions have dipped below two million since 2015, as semiconductor shortages impacted supply of stock. Year to date sales are now down 9.7% to 5,319,482.
Over the last four weeks of trading the retail market has reported fall in demand from consumers, in comparison to the previous four, which is expected from retailers. The well documented issues relating to supply, driving the value of used car values up, has maintained this level and appears to be steady. Demand for diesel is still reducing, whilst petrol and BEV remain as the markets focal point.
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