10:24 am, September 20, 2016
ONE in four dealers expects volumes of pre-registered vehicles to exceed 21 per cent of total new sales this month, according to a new survey by provenance experts cap hpi.
The survey of 103 dealers showed that they expect a leap in pre-registration activity throughout September, with 26 per cent expecting pre-registration volumes to be above 21 per cent, and 43 per cent of them expecting volumes to be between 11 per cent and 20 per cent.
Commenting on the findings, cap hpi consumer and retail specialist Philip Nothard, pictured, said: ‘If new sales volumes match 2015, these figures would mean more than 97,000 pre-registered vehicles in September. While many dealers have assimilated pre-registration activity into their business models, it can put smaller and independent dealers under pressure.
‘Pre-registration volumes vary widely between brands, and while pre-registration helps drive some impressive new car sales figures, it can place pressure on the nearly-new values.’
The survey shows a significant increase in expected volumes from a similar study in March. Dealers predicting pre-registration volumes of six to 10 per cent dropped from 20 per cent in March to 12 per cent in September, while those seeing volumes in excess of 21 per cent leapt from 17 per cent to 26 per cent.
Nothard said: ‘Market sentiment is pointing to a strong September. This comes on top of a record first half for new vehicles sales. How the industry copes with increasing volumes of vehicles returning to the market, and “forced registrations” into pre-registration and daily rental channels, will underpin the stability of the used market into 2017.
‘Strong consumer demand for used vehicles is supporting positive dealer sentiment. Continued strong consumer demand will be the key factor in underpinning residual values over the coming months, as record volumes of vehicles return to the market.’
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