Growth in van buyers boosts conversions at Manheim

A growth in van buyer numbers helped to boost conversion rates at Manheim in February.

Physical buyer registrations were up 12% from January, and Manheim’s online buyer based increased by 9%.

Overall conversion rates were 8% higher than in January, with Manheim’s national fleet vendor customers seeing first conversions of 87%. Nearly half of all vans sold in February were bought by online buyers – beating the previous monthly record set in January.

Matthew Davock, head of LCV at Manheim, said: “We opened more than 220 new commercial vehicle buyer accounts in February – 32% more than in January, no doubt helped by the opening of our new centre of excellence at Manheim Shepshed, which is proving a hit with UK van buyers and our vendors.”

Average days in stock for vans sold by Manheim reduced by seven days in February and, while the average selling price of commercial vehicle units softened slightly compared to January, the average stock profile was six months older, with 3,000 more miles on the clock.

Despite age and mileage being almost identical to February 2015, average selling price increased by £283 year-on-year, which can be attributed to both improved vendor engagement and increased buyer activity at Manheim’s commercial vehicle auction centres in 2016.

Davock added: “Manheim’s buyer base has proven to be incredibly loyal, which has helped to achieve impressive results for our vendor customers so far this year. We have been undoubtedly been presented with some challenges in terms of stock profile, but the confidence and strength of our buyer base, and the expertise of our commercial vehicle team, has meant that we have been able to successfully deliver strong performance for our customers.”