10:55 am, April 4, 2023
Used car dealers saw stock levels slump to a six-month low, new data has found.
eBay Motors Group’s latest Market View found dealers grappled with replenishing forecourts as consumer demand remained robust.
Average stock levels dropped to 50 units in March, down from 52 in February, marking the third consecutive monthly fall, said the company.
Before this, stock levels were on average at the 59 mark in December.
eBay Motors Group said franchised dealers bore the brunt of March’s fall. They saw stock levels drop 12 per cent from 78 to 69 units, contrary to the expected uplift from part-exchanges traditionally generated by the new car plate-change.
For the same period last year franchised sites saw an uplift from 69 to 73 units.
Car supermarket stocks dipped at a slower rate, down two per cent from 293 to 288 units, while independents averaged 33, a level that has remained static since January.
Moreover, eBay Motors Group said that while average advertised prices on Motors.co.uk dropped 1.6 per cent month-on-month from £18,774 to £18,474, the fall was mostly driven by a change in the mix of cars on the site with proportionately more older cars exacerbated by the shortage of younger vehicles.
Price increases were seen in the 2-5 year (0.7 per cent / £144) and 5-10 year (0.5 per cent / £64) segments, with price drops seen in under two year old (-0.6 per cent / -£191) and over 10 year old (-2.2 per cent / -£162).
The biggest month-on-month price improvement was for the diesel-engined Peugeot 308 (six-eight years), which jumped 14 per cent to £8,937.
eBay Motor Group said some EVs saw ‘price realignments’ with the Volkswagen e-Golf (three-four years) down 8.5 per cent to £18,093, Hyundai Ioniq (two-three years) down seven per cent to £18,606 and Nissan Leaf (four-five years) down seven per cent to £16,652.
Days to sell reduced month-on-month from 42 to 39, with faster sales achieved across all three retail sectors.
Lucy Tugby, marketing director of eBay Motors Group, said: ‘March saw dealers continue to sell used cars quickly, albeit from depleted inventories, with a slight softening in overall prices driven by the industry-wide shortage of younger cars.
‘Part-exchanges from the March debut of the 23-plate were not sufficient to grow franchised inventories, but we hope will provide a boost going into April.
‘Demand has remained high in March with strong volumes of online searches but there are signs of consumer caution when making a lead; we believe this shows buyers are understandably waiting to see how the economy plays out, especially following another rise in interest rates.
‘As we head into the Easter holiday period, traditionally a good time for car buyers to go online and visit showrooms, dealers need to factor in these consumer dynamics and consider dialling up their marketing messages around affordable monthly payments, the benefit of warranties and aftersales care.’
