Is Manufacturer Market-Share Dominance Pursuit Ruining the Used Car Market?

Latest CAP research reveals chinks in the used car market’s armour

It seems that we have a bit of a problem here in the UK; and it's not one that everyone will be aware of. 

Firstly, there has been a massive upsurge in the numbers of "young" nearly new cars. In contrast, there are also less and less "quality" 3-4 year old cars that are making their way to market.

Good, clean 3-4 year old cars just aren't as readily available as they were. This is causing a problem for used car dealers and of course, for buyers. There just aren't enough decent used cars of this age to go around. 

Used cars that are in good nick are getting to be something of a rarity; according to the Black Book Live Market Report "only around 20% of cars available in the current trade market could be described as anywhere near clean". And CAP were right - trade prices for good, clean 3-4 year old cars this year have already seen a hike.

According to Cap Automotive, the large numbers of pre-registered vehicles and daily rental cars that were sold in great numbers towards the end of last year could result in the youngest cars being marked down in value.

Inevitably, this could filter down to the older cars that are left for sale on the pitch. 

All of this is not good and it has led me to thinking about car sales figures in general. 

We have been reporting some great sales figures recently and although things certainly seem to be "on the up", it doesn't seem quite right that we are including "quick turnaround" rental company sales and self-registrations in our figures. 

Gaining market share is one thing but the implications that these tactics have on the used car market is quite another.




Written by @MotorMistress
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