The average price of used cars sold in May was down by 1.5% compared with the previous month, according to BCA.
However, the auction firm said the month’s average price of £8,451 was still a 0.5% improvement compared with May 2021, with the bank holiday and build up to the Platinum Jubilee having caused less disruption than expected.
BCA said used car demand from retailers was increasingly focused on vehicles that could be ready to sell quickly, with the best presented and prepared cars with higher condition grades attracting a lot of competitive bidding, while lower grade, often older and higher mileage vehicles needed to be competitively valued to sell first time.??
BCA UK COO Stuart Pearson said: “Anecdotal feedback from our professional buyers suggests that the retail market remains tough, however there is reasonable demand in certain sectors and segments and their focus remains on stock turn to get head of any future pricing change that the market experiences.
“The same external pressures continue to influence the marketplace as last month, with the cost of living squeeze and rising energy and fuel prices and now the spectre of a ‘summer of discontent’ ahead with strike action being talked about across a number of public services.?? These issues cause economic uncertainty that make it more likely that consumers will rein in their spending and this will inevitably impact used car retailers and the wholesale used vehicle sector.
“This leads us to a familiar position where a two-tier market develops with strong demand for vehicles that are properly prepared, well-presented with a strong provenance and a clean grade, while less attractive vehicles need to be incredibly competitively valued if they are to sell first time.”??
