The Gavel - February 2023

Andy Conde – Cars

Auctions across Manheim have been absolutely flying at the start of this year. Buyers have certainly hit the ground running, and there’s a massive buzz around our halls with several auctions even seeing physical attendances in line with pre-pandemic numbers. Online buying figures are also breaking records, prices are strong, and conversion rates of 100% are becoming more and more common.?

It's clear that buyers are desperate for stock. While the economic situation is still poor, retail demand has been higher than predicted so retailers are still out in force across our auctions. Yes, supply has improved slightly, but it remains below where it needs to be to satisfy the current demand we’re seeing, and the supply of quality used cars will take some time to improve to the level that is needed.?

Whether the car you’re selling is 12 months old or 12 years old the, demand is the same. Providing it has pumped-up tyres, see-through windows and the condition is good with a reasonable MOT, buyers are happy to throw guide prices out of the window to secure the stock they need.?

The result is many vehicles are making well over cap Clean. The latest guide price movement of just +0.1% is also considerably distorted by the inclusion of electric vehicles, which have taken a hammering on both prices and demand over the past few weeks. Values of all Tesla models continue to tumble, and other manufacturers are now very nervous and are cutting the cost of new product which is having a negative effect on used. Both full plug in and hybrid models are affected by this, and any such vehicle needs to be priced extremely competitively to attract buyers. Across the country we are seeing low levels of interest and there will be some great deals around for buyers looking to dip their toes into the EV market.

More positively, the top end markets of prestige and high value 4x4 vehicles have performed amazingly and are as busy as ever with plenty of money around for the right stock.

The markets will start to settle as the year goes on, but even if retail demand eases slightly, the supply will still not be enough to feed the buying frenzy for some time and therefore I can see prices increasing even further over the coming months.

Stuart Peak – LCVs

LCV auctions across Manheim have certainly kicked off in style during the early parts of 2023, and there is a real buzz in the halls. Often, January can be slow starting, taking a week or two to really get going. But from the very off, buyers were bidding competitively and there’s no sign of that momentum slowing down.?

Looking back to January 2022, we witnessed a different market. Guide prices were still at record levels and average selling prices were more than ￡11,000, but the same buzz wasn’t quite there. This year I feel that guide prices are much more aligned to the market and competition is fierce as a result.?

First-time conversions in January were excellent, with 83% selling first time, an increase of 14% year-on-year. Average selling price for the month was also strong at ￡9,621. We have however seen a reduction in arrivals of 10% compared to last year. No doubt the shortage of used stock is playing its part in the buoyant market that we are witnessing.

?I get asked a lot for my opinions on EV vans, and my current view is that we will see prices become more aligned to diesel variants over the coming months. Whilst there’s been some negativity around EVs over the last few months, they continue to be sellable at a certain price and many buyers are willing to have a go.

All our leading vendors have experienced 100% conversion sales so far this year, but the thing that stands out most for me is how active many of the franchised dealers are. At a recent sale in Shepshed, we saw record breaking results for two leading manufacturers, and within these sections, independent retailers could barely get near a van.?

Our vehicle buying service, Money4YourMotors, has also seen excellent results at our LCV sales with much of the stock on offer attracting no VAT which offers something a bit different to our buyer base. Part-exchange sections from our dealer partners have seen sales prices consistently exceed stand in values (SIVs) at each sale and the fleet sector, as always, is fairing very well.?

All told, a great start to 2023. If you have vans to sell, now is great time to get those units in to the auction halls!