Used car prices are becoming more volatile and reflecting changes in fuel types and body styles as well as size, say Cazana director of instights, Rupert Pontin.
The first week of August saw a marginal shift in the retail market with footfall at the retailers and online enquiries slightly down on the levels of recent weeks.
Firstly, this is hardly surprising given it is the holiday season and secondly the improvement in the weather, that looks set to continue throughout the month, has given consumers the incentive to spend a little time on holiday rather than staying at home.
“The retail price shift across the market as a whole was a decline of -0.13% in the average price of a retail advertised car. That represents a drop of just £22 per unit where the average price of a car across the whole market is now £17,303,” said Mr Pontin.
“Whilst this drop-in price is hardly noticeable in some people eyes, across a retailer group this dip would have made a costly difference. This should also serve as a market yardstick and one that should be watched closely going forward to avoid financial challenges as the market shifts as is expected later in the year.
“It is also worth noting that whilst analysing the data it is clear that there is a much higher level of pricing volatility. The propensity for certain fuel types within different market sectors to show big pricing swings from one week to the next is another indicator that the coming weeks might be a little more challenging than of late.”
