10:37 am, July 15, 2020
Auction houses are seeing strong volumes and rising prices, a new survey reveals.
While physical auction sites could reopen on June 15 along with other non-essential retailers, the National Association of Motor Auctions (NAMA) says the majority of auction houses continue to focus on online sales which remain ‘extremely strong’.
NAMA says its members expect the sector to perform well over the coming weeks. In particular, more than 50 per cent of auctioneers who responded to the latest NAMA survey said they expect volumes for three-year-old and older vehicles to increase through July.
While prices are rising, most auction houses believe the average age of cars as well as average mileages will not experience any major change.
Louise Wallis, head of NAMA, said: ‘Despite significant external challenges, the motor auction sector is seeing a number of positive trends.
‘Volumes are now almost at pre-lockdown levels and auctioneers are optimistic particularly for vehicles over three years old. As new car sales gradually pick up, the increase in defleeted company cars and part-exchanges will support volumes at auctions which are likely to stay strong.’
Derren Martin, head of valuations, UK for Cap HPI, added: ‘The speed at which NAMA auctions managed to start to sell large volumes of cars purely online during the Covid-19 lockdown is a great credit to the industry. This allowed vendors to realise much-needed cash for their vehicles and allowed dealers to buy in what became a buoyant market from June onwards.
‘Older vehicles have performed particularly well since May and we predict a strong used car market to continue for at least a few weeks yet, led as always by the auction companies.’
- Rate your manufacturer and favourite suppliers in Car Dealer Power – it takes a few minutes to have your say here
- Join our breaking news WhatsApp group. Broadcast only, no chit chat, and headlines to your phone. Send us a message and ask to join here.
- Download the latest digital edition of Car Dealer Magazine Issue 148 for free here.
