9:48 pm, November 8, 2011
THE used car market has remained ‘quite strong’ through October into November with increased stock levels and healthy demand.
That’s the word from the Vehicle Remarketing Association (VRA), but also warn that buyers are shying away from vehicles with damage and ‘is an indication of an ongoing element of nervousness from dealers about length in stock, reflecting the importance of quick turn around on the forecourts,’ said the VRA’s remarketing update.
Vehicles with sensible mileages requiring little work are the most desirable, while VRA members have said that ‘aggressive’ deals on new cars are leading consumers away from used cars.
‘However, there is no doubt that franchised dealers have increasingly turned their attention to used vehicle retailing to support profitability in the last few recession-driven years,’ said the update. ‘In many cases it has become the most profitable income stream and has driven plenty of demand into the wholesale area as new car dealers compete with the independent used car specialists over stock which has traditionally been the domain of the latter. That said, there are currently some marked regional variances in retail activity.’
As for the rest of the year, the update predicted: ‘A sustained period of economic calm will need to have passed before markets and consumer confidence returns to levels where more accurate forecasting is realistically possible.
‘However, VRA members are expecting the early part of the New Year to be fairly strong, as expectant dealers stock up forecourts and ramp up their used vehicle marketing activity.’
