10:25 am, September 17, 2020
The used van market will stay buoyant with record prices for the rest of 2020 and into 2021.
That’s according to Shoreham Vehicle Auctions managing director Alex Wright, who said a lot of small-to-medium-sized businesses were steering clear of long-term finance deals on the likes of £25,000 new vans because of the question mark lingering over the economy.
Instead, they were looking to buy used vans for their current workload as well as expansion.
The resulting huge appetite for sub-£10,000 used vans has seen demand exceeding supply, with prices rising by as much as 60 per cent, while some pre-Euro 5 models are continuing to make double their book value.
Wright said: ‘The market continues to surprise us every fortnight when we host a commercial vehicle auction.
‘Prices across the board are very strong and this will continue, helped by the fact that we are now allowing account buyers into the sale to view and bid on vehicles in person.
‘Our business foundation is online, but adding back the traditional physical buyer fully masked, hand-gelled and distanced adds to the duels between bidders.
‘Emotions are running high in the hall as each buyer is in need of fresh stock to keep their customers happy.’
All van types have seen big price rises – in particular, the 3-5 tonne GVW panel van and chassis cabs with bodywork fitted, fuelled by van body builders’ lead times increasing as they clear order backlogs.
Used vans are most in demand in the the builder, plumber and electrician sectors, as well as food and parcel delivery.
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