New car discounts and big pre-registrations of technically outdated models have distorted the used car market and it has become what analysts are calling “a serious event” in the trade.
The UK used car market has seen a significant shift in pricing in the sub 12-month-old sector. Retail pricing has seen a marked decrease with a 7-percentage point downturn over the same period last year, report Cazana.
This is entirely due to the impact of pre-registration in recent months with significant impact evident during September as these cars forced into the market have had to be competitive with brand new cars when advertised for retail sale. There is no doubt that this is a serious event for this market profile to experience.
Looking at other age and mileage profiles and the market is in a far more stable condition with a drop-in pricing of 3 percentage points for 24-month-old vehicles and 36-month-old vehicles both with ex PCP mileage profiles.
This drop is likely due to such a heavy move in the sub 12 months sector although it is important to acknowledge that at this point there is pricing stability for ex fleet 36-month-old vehicles with the higher sixty-thousand-mile profile.