Fleets that look after their cars can expect to benefit from stronger than usual resell values and faster remarketing times due to a shortage of good quality stock, according to the Vehicle Remarketing Association (VRA).

The shortage has been caused in part by fleets and company car drivers holding onto vehicles for longer, due to the uncertainty over the impact of the new WLTP emissions testing regime on benefit-in-kind tax rates.

VRA, which represents businesses that handle, sell, inspect, transport or manage more than 1.5 million used vehicles every year, believes vehicle condition will be one of the key trends of the second half of 2019.
 
Sam Watkins, VRA chair, explained: “While there is a quite a lot of stock in the market, comparatively little of it is of the highest ‘retail ready’ quality and can be put on sale with minimum preparation.
 
“This has become increasingly apparent over recent months. It is being exacerbated by the fact that fleets are hanging on to cars for longer thanks to ongoing confusion over vehicle taxation and generally lower economic confidence.
 
“The outcome is that many used car retailers are increasingly having to buy stock that is of a lower quality than they would like and then spend time and money bringing it up to standard. This puts resources under pressure and creates additional work.”