12:48 pm, July 29, 2024
Used car prices ‘softened only slightly’ in July while second-hand electric cars experienced their strongest month this year, Cap HPI has told Car Dealer.
Trade prices of used cars fell by 0.4% in July – or around £70 – at the three three-year, 60,000 miles point, latest data from the company shows.
The small 0.4% slip was in sharp contrast to the average 1.1% fall in July Cap HPI has recorded since 2012, and follows the tiny 0.1% drop seen in June.
Speaking exclusively to Car Dealer, Cap HPI senior valuations editor Chris Plum said the used car market is currently very ‘stable’.
‘We saw how stable the used car market was in June and that is playing through into July – we’re seeing supply and demand being very well balanced,’ Plumb told Car Dealer in the video posted at the top of this story.
Used car prices are being propped up by strong wholesale demand, Plumb said.
‘The wholesale market is particularly strong and I think that’s because we are now at the point where those “Covid cars” that were never registered – some 2.7 or 2.8 million cars – would have been three years old now and would have worked their way through the car parc.
‘There’s less good, clean stock out there in the market that’s ready to retail, and dealers are paying a little more for it and competing for the stock.’
Plumb added: ‘From a retail side, dealers have taken a conscious decision to probably remain a little bit understocked – maybe because of high interest rates. So, when they sell the car they have to go replenish it, so they’re dipping back into the market, probably little and often. So I think that’s helping the market to remain very stable.’
Beneath the headline 0.4% drop in July, the market was far more nuanced, explained Plumb.
At the one-year age mark, prices dropped by 0.6% or around £190. At the older age points, cars were again only marginally affected, dropping by 0.6% or £55 at five years old and 1.6% or £60 at 10 years old.
Medium-sized or ‘C-segment’ cars dropped the most in July, falling by 0.9%, while ‘Sports’ fell by 0.8%.
The strongest body type was ‘SUV’ which dropped by just 0.3%.
Diesel was the best performing fuel type, falling by just 0.2% in July, followed by petrol and hybrids both at 0.4% each, and plug-in hybrid fell by 0.6%.
Used EVs dropped the most at 1% but July was the strongest month for battery cars this year.
‘It’s not all negative any more,’ remarked Plumb. ‘We’ve had 23 consecutive months of falling used EV prices, and they have fallen around 60%, but this 1% is a bit more positive and that’s because July was the second or third strongest month since September 2022.’
Plumb added: ‘It all feels a bit more positive out there with EVs with dealers looking to sell battery electric vehicles.’
Used electric car highlights in July included the Polestar 2, up 2.3%, Tesla Model X, up 2%, and the Kia E-Niro, up 2% or around £240.
Models that remained level were the Cupra Born, Tesla Model Y, and the VW ID.3, while the VW e-Up saw the biggest fall at 5.1%.
For petrols and diesels, the highlights were Dacia Duster Diesel and the Range Rover Sport Petrol Hybrid saw increases of 3% and 4%, respectively. The BMW X4 diesel (4%/£1,170), Nissan Qashqai diesel (3%/£365), and the Toyota RAV4 Hybrid (2%/£400) also experienced value increases.
Models that remained level in value this month include the Peugeot 508 Diesel, Mini Countryman Petrol, BMW 2 Series Gran Coupe Petrol, Mercedes GLA diesel and the Kia Sportage petrol.
