2:36 pm, June 2, 2020
Used car prices remained stable in May with most models increasing slightly, according to the latest research from an online classified advertising group.
Experts from eBay Motors Group told Car Dealer Live today that they looked at the 50 most popular used cars on the sites it runs and found prices increased by 0.7 per cent.
Dermot Kelleher, head of research for the group told us (in a clip you can watch above) – that independent dealers pushed up their prices the most – by 2.7 per cent – while franchised dealers dropped their used car prices by 0.6 per cent.
Commercial vehicles saw the biggest rise, though, as many people looked for other career avenues.
‘Overall, trends are broadly stable,’ said Kelleher.
Vehicles that had increased in price the most were:
- Ford Focus
- Ford Transit
- Vauxhall Vivaro
- Renault Clio
Kelleher added: ‘These were quite a normal batch of vehicles, it’s not the kind of super-premium, it’s the core. I think we will see more significant changes into July.’
Asked which had decreased in price, he cited the Fiat 500 (under three years old) as having gone down by two per cent, as had the BMW 2 Series and VW Golf (three to six years), although he pointed out that it was hard to glean a real pattern.
Head of external sales for eBay Motors Group Marc Robinson highlighted the overhang of vehicle supply from March and how that would affect prices too when stock will be in short supply as the backlog dried up.
While eBay Motors Group head Phill Jones said pricing strategy across the board had been relatively stable.
He said: ‘I think most people have taken the view that there is no market, so there’s nothing to price to.
‘We’re now coming to this really interesting crunch point of some people will need to liquidate stock just for cash, shortage of wholesale stock, high consumer demand, a shift in demand to commercial vehicles (and) potentially smaller vehicles, so I think you will see volatility.
‘When you take the broad average, the average might not change that much but there’ll be real spikes within there.’
Meanwhile, used car valuation expert Cazana’s latest research has found that retail pricing has increased slightly too.
Prices for petrol-powered cars have increased by 0.03 per cent, while prices for diesel-powered cars have remained firm – up by a minimal 0.1 per cent.
The firm’s research found prices in the petrol hybrid, BEV and sports car sectors rose, while superminis and J-segment SUVs decreased. Superminis dropped the most at -4.58 per cent, but they only account for 0.01 per cent of the market.
Rupert Pontin, Cazana director of insights, said: ‘Now the showrooms are open it will be very interesting to understand what will happen to retail pricing.’
Watch the full Car Dealer Live interview with eBay Motors Group below
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