1:43 pm, June 23, 2021
British Car Auctions posted record breaking figures last month as auctioneers continue to benefit from pent-up demand.
Car Dealer reported two weeks ago that auction houses have been experiencing a spectacular boom due to the result of physical sales.
Despite that, BCA is yet to welcome bidders back to auction halls and has instead been seeing unbelievable results online.
Online bidders reached their highest ever levels in May with over 10,000 customers participating in online BCA sales.
Used car values were also up eight per cent month-on-month to £8,408.
Among the biggest success stories were prestige and luxury stock, with several vehicles attracting six figure sums.
A Lamborghini Aventador 6.5 LP 740-4 S ISR Roadster achieved the highest value at BCA this year, selling for £245,500.
Stuart Pearson, COO of BCA UK, said: ‘Despite some market commentators suggesting there could be shortages of used car stock, BCA continued to set the pace across the industry, with rising volumes sold, record numbers of buyers online and a record value week achieved in May.
‘With BCA Valuations providing detailed insight into how the market is performing, we have our finger on the pulse of the remarketing sector and can track shifts in demand as they happen.
‘We continue to see high levels of confidence from professional buyers and exceptionally competitive bidding across the range of stock on offer from BCA.
‘BCA sales continue to be exclusively online, giving customers access to the widest choice of stock in the wholesale market, while ensuring a safe environment for buyers, vendors, suppliers and our people alike.’
The results came as BCA staged the first online sales from its Bristol remarketing centre.
The newly opened 65-acre mega-centre has capacity to store over 10,000 vehicles on the ground at any one time and plans to handle over 120,000 vehicles per annum.
Over the coming weeks BCA Bristol will be offering thousands of vehicles at every price point via BCA Online and the BCA Buyer app.
Pearson added ‘Our new Bristol centre has really hit the ground running and we’ve seen a number of new buyers from South West, drawn by the attractive mix of stock on offer.
‘We’re also recruiting heavily to support the accelerated growth of the centre and we expect sales and production activity to ramp up significantly over the forthcoming weeks.’
