Used LCV Dealers Cautious As They Await Political Outcome

Dealers are wary of buying too much used van stock as the trade goes into the year-end and businesses await the outcome of the political situation.

Glass’s says that the latest data shows more vehicles on the wholesale market than buyers. It says September’s sales figures were down 9% on the previous month and 15% behind on a year-on-year basis.

Small and medium LCVs took the lions’ share of those vehicles which were bought wholesale with 34% each and there is an uplift in the fledgling battery van sector. Glass’s says the Peugeot Partner, the Renault Kangoo and the Ford Transit Connect were popular and average prices went up against the previous month. Average prices for Nissan’s electric eNV200 saw growth of almost 12% month on month as more businesses switch to battery-powered LCVs. However, all other model ranges saw a drop in average prices.

Glass’s describe the medium LCV market as `positive’ as it took just over a third of wholesale activity. Units sold dropped fractionally but first-time conversion rates showed a tiny growth to a healthy 82%. Sale prices also saw an improvement of more than 2.0% with average prices going through the £7,000 mark. The VW Transporter, Ford Transit Custom, Renault Trafic, Vauxhall Vivaro and Citroen Dispatch proved to be the volume sellers but only Vauxhall and Volkswagen got average price increases.

Large panel vans were slow to move and sales dropped 6% although first-time conversion rates did improve by 0.5% to 79%. As with the Medium Van sector, sale prices also saw improvement, this time by over 6.25% with average prices exceeding £6,600. The Ford Transit and VW Sprinter made up nearly 60% of all sales in this sector, with average sale prices increasing by £450 in August.

If large panel vans struggled there was even worse news for 4×4 Pickups where volume dropped for the third month in a row, this time by over 130 units, although prices went the other way on the back of younger stock. Average mileage came down by 2,500 miles and average age by 3.9 months driving average sale prices to improve by 6% and which now stand just short of £10,000.

Although sales of the Mitsubishi L200 and Nissan Navara reduced nearly 12% during the month, they still made up over 50% of all sales. The VW Amarok continues to sell when condition and miles are right with September prices improving by over 9%. Buyers continue to seek higher specification Land Rover Defenders, with the best XS and special edition models continuing to sell for exceptional prices.

On the plus side, dealers selling used LCVs fared much better than franchised retailers where sales of 69-plate units saw a spectacular fall of 24% year-on-year, the first decline of 2019 for new Light Commercial Vehicles.

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