According to a leading commercial vehicle auction house, British Car Auctions, the value of used vans has held up well at the start of 2011. THis gives a sign that the economy as a whole may still be on the up – vans are a good indicator of the general health of the economy. With plenty of used vans available at the moment now is a good time to buy propr to the prices hardening as a result of the 2012 London LEZ that will distort the market at the back end of this year.
Demand continued to keep values relatively firm in the used commercial vehicle market in February, despite volumes rising sharply. Average values fell by £76 (1.8%) in February while sold volumes increased by nearly 13% over the same period, following a near 50% increase between December and January. Average monthly values have broadly remained between £4,000 and £4,200 since the summer of last year.
Performance against CAP dropped by less than a point to 98.78%, down from the 99.46% achieved across the board in January. Year-on-year, February 2011 is down a significant £439 (10.5%) when compared to the same month last year – which was the second highest monthly average price on record.
Fleet & lease LCV values fell back by £186 (3.8%) to £4,599, effectively losing half the gains made in January when values climbed sharply. However, taken in the context of a market that saw sold volumes increase by some 18%, it is apparent that there is plenty of demand for stock. As with last month, year-on-year values are adrift (by £527 or 10.3%) as the market was reaching its peak a year ago. Fleet vans averaged 98.15% of CAP in February, nearly a point behind the January average.
In contrast, there continued to be significant value growth in the part-exchange sector, which climbed sharply for the second month running, following a six month period where values had moved little. Values rose by £113 to reach £2,565 – an increase of 4.6% – and the highest value recorded since April of last year. CAP comparisons improved again to reach 101.09%, although year-on-year values were behind by £254 or 9.0% – February 2010 remains the highest monthly value ever recorded in this sector.
Nearly-new volumes remain very low and fell back for the second month running. Values also fell – by £60 to £10,344 in February, although performance against CAP improved again, reaching 104.73% – a 1.5 point increase over January.
Duncan Ward BCA’s General Manager – Commercial Vehicles commented, “Demand held up well in February following the strong start to the year. Overall the market seemed pretty confident, although there were patches when buyers seemed to turn off. There are still issues relating to poor stock mix resulting from an influx of vans from business failures and liquidations, often in poor condition or non-retail colours and with a low specification and that is likely to continue in the months ahead.”
“Although it is early days in the wake of the ’11’ plates, the corporate buyers have been active and we should expect to see de-fleet volumes ramp up and possibly some more price pressure in the fleet/lease used van sector.
“Retail new van business remains pretty flat so dealer part-exchange volumes are unlikely to increase sharply, and with continuing demand for budget vans it is likely prices will remain relatively firm in this sector.”
“The low volumes of nearly-new vans remain highly desirable, of course, and anything with a retail specification or in a rare configuration can make exceptional money.”
Ward added “The overall economic picture remains fairly depressed, however, and small business confidence is reported as low. A recent survey found that nearly three-quarters of small businesses are unlikely to add to their workforce this year, while even more are concerned about access to bank lending to fund growth.”
He concluded “High fuel prices are contributing to the rising inflation, as well as the knock-on affect of rising costs across all areas of business. It means small businesses and solus traders are likely to be looking to reduce their costs going forward – considering these sectors are the biggest buyers of used vans this could have a significant impact on demand as the year rolls on.”
Tags: used van sales, Van Auction, van prices, Vans for sale