Auction company Manheim is predicting an increase in vehicle supply to the UK wholesale market during the next six weeks. Fuelled by the increase in defleeted company cars and the seasonal influx in part-exchanges, following the September plate change, the remarketing specialist is expecting a rise of up to 20% compared to average monthly supply.

Autumn’s unusually strong supply pipeline is no surprise to Manheim, which has been preparing for such an eventuality for some months, investing heavily in people, infrastructure and systems to manage the increase in vehicle volumes.

In readiness for the anticipated surge in stock, Manheim has increased marketing activity, building up its buyer base by 20% over the last year, in order to maintain strong CAP values seen in recent weeks at auction. September’s market show there is still a strong appetite for vehicles: Manheim’s Northampton site held two sales that saw nearly 300 vehicles achieving in excess of 97% CAP clean for part exchange vehicles that normally average in the mid-nineties. Similarly, at a mid-month fleet sale at Colchester, 350 buyers fought hard over 200 cars, achieving a sale rate of 99.7% of CAP.

In the lead up to this anticipated surge in wholesale stock, Manheim has invested significantly in infrastructure to handle the anticipated upturn in stock. While the business has re-opened and extended its Coventry site, all major facilities now benefit from all-weather inspection canopies that enable vehicles to be inspected, prepared and photographed ready for sale, whatever the weather or time of day.

Chris Cush, operations director at Manheim, said: “Good business practice is all about understanding where the market is going and changing your operation to suit. That is precisely what we have been doing over the past year. We’ve won a number of great new accounts in the last few months, which have along with seasonal trends, seen us delivering record numbers of vehicles to the motor trade.

“While we’ve been achieving some staggeringly good values at auction in recent months – where 99% of CAP clean is no longer a remarkable result – we need to be realistic about the changing market and the impact that more supply will have on values. While we are investing heavily to maintain customer satisfaction and speed of sale in our business, and industry leading RVs for customers, we can’t deny the laws of supply and demand that will surely see values soften as we approach Christmas.”

More articles on: