Used car values vital to successful restart of car sales

Retailers have been patient and pragmatic on pricing during the lockdown. Whilst prices are still being corrected, adjustments haven't been made as often, or by as many retailers. Our commercial director, Karolina Edwards-Smajda, has even highlighted that prices for used cars actually went up 0.1 per cent last month.

According to a recent poll from our weekly 'Getting Retail Ready' webinars, 88% of retailers aren't reducing pricing any more than usual. It's almost like the market has been put on pause.

Before the lockdown, we'd usually expect to see up to 3,000 retailers make price adjustments every day. However, during the lockdown, this has fallen to around 800 adjustments per day. You can keep an eye on these market pricing trends and more through your new Market Insight platform.

The number of cars that have had their prices adjusted has dropped significantly too – from 24,000 cars a day, down to 4,500. Maintaining this sensible approach will be vital when restarting used car sales. By holding values steady, sales can return to normal without hitting retailers' businesses. 

It's not just retailers either. Maintaining price stability is equally important for OEMs and their finance houses. Both parties depend on strong retail valuations to help reach attractive monthly payments on new car offers, as well as avoiding hits to asset values currently held on PCP or lease deals that will soon return to them.

So, don't slash your prices. Remember, you can maintain your profitability by using our free Retail Check to instantly calculate the most profitable price for your vehicles whilst maximising speed of sale.