Volume increase brings more pressure for sellers

Fleet used car values fell by £8 to £7,545 in March, according to BCA’s latest Pulse report, with CAP performance dropping by over a point to 96.4%.

This is despite sold volumes rising by some 8.7% over the month and a very similar spread of product sold. Year-on-year values are behind by £48, equivalent to a 0.6% drop.

There was a similar small decline in the part-exchange sector, which fell by £11 to £2,787, the second consecutive monthly value fall recorded.

Despite this average values in this sector remain at near record levels, underlining the relatively high levels of demand in the budget car sector.

The nearly-new sector saw values fall from £19,827, down to £19,152 – the £675 fall equivalent to a 3.4% decline.

BCA reveals that average used car values fell in March, although there was negligible price pressure in the big volume sectors of fleet and lease and dealer part-exchange vehicles.

While the nearly-new sector average value fell more noticeably, this was largely as a result of changing model mix over the month.

Values across the board fell to £5,752, down by £233 (3.8%) compared to February’s figure of £5,985.

Year-on-year, March 2011 is £39 (0.6%) behind the same month in 2010. Average monthly values are currently at the lowest point recorded since May 2010.

Performance against CAP Clean dropped by one and a half points to 95.9%, down from the 97.4% achieved across the board in February. In March 2010, the CAP Clean performance averaged 98.5%, so year-on-year figures are down by just over two and half points.

Sold volumes rose by a significant 11.5% compared to February, underlining a March market that was reasonably bullish, particularly when placed in context of the 4% drop in sold volume experienced between January and February.

However, conversion rates for corporate sellers have fallen since January and entries have risen quite sharply following the March plate change.

Looking at the quarterly picture, values averaged £5,899 across the first three months of 2011, a rise of £81 (1.3%) compared to the previous quarter. As a result the BCA quarterly index rose to 123 from 122 – the same point it stood at a year ago.