Diesel is likely to remain a crucial part of the motor trade’s fuel mix for the foreseeable future and the motor industry should “remain calm” over its future values, says the Vehicle Remarketing Association.
The trade organisation – which represents companies that are involved in remarketing more than 1.5 million vehicles every year – says that there is every reason to expect that the values of most diesels will stay relatively stable.
Glenn Sturley, chair at the VRA, said, “There is a lot of noise going on around diesel which is causing some people to speculate on an unexpected decline in demand but, we believe, the picture is much more complex and less worrying.
“The main point to bear in mind is that there is no such thing as a single ‘diesel’ car – instead there is a whole range of Euro 4, Euro 5 and Euro 6 models, and the prospects for each of them are very different.
“At one extreme, Euro 4 vehicles are much more likely to be affected by clean air legislation and their values could fall quickly but most of these cars are now quite old and probably in ‘banger’ territory.
“At the other, Euro 6 vehicles meet the latest emissions regulations and, however you measure them, are highly unlikely to be hit by any new rules and regulations. These are newer vehicles and there is no concrete reason buyers won’t want them.”
So far, impacts on diesel values had been limited, Glenn said, although the VRA was monitoring the situation closely.