7:39 am, November 14, 2020
England’s second lockdown has has sparked an instant increase in car-buying and selling online, new data shows.
Online car supermarket BuyaCar.co.uk said in the first seven days of England’s new lockdown, the website reported increases for every measure of interest in car buying or selling through its platform.
It saw a 120 per cent increase in cars reserved for purchase; an 81 per cent rise in finance applications; a 31 per cent increase on the normal rate of motorists signing up for an account; a nine per cent increase in traffic to BuyaCar.co.uk and 1,100 cars added to available stock.
Some 64,100 cars are now available for home delivery, says the company.
BuyaCar says increase in stock available on its platform reflects dealer worries around other online competitors continuing to operate as they are forced to close their own doors.
It says by dealers partnering with them to supplement their own ‘click and collect’ services, compensates ‘significantly’ for the temporary loss of showroom traffic.
BuyaCar chief executive Andy Oldham said: ‘Just as we did during the first national lockdown we are seeing that consumers are increasingly comfortable to receive a car they have only seen on-screen, provided it carries a money back guarantee and is delivered to them cleanly and safely.
‘And the latest lockdown is actually increasing the choice available to motorists on our site because it is encouraging more dealers to make stock available to us that they can’t sell off the forecourt.
‘The latest lockdown effect reveals that motorists and dealers alike are determined to push through this latest market disruption rather than wait indefinitely for life to return to normal.’
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