Commercial vehicle market goes from strength to strength

The LCV market continues to go from strength to strength and October did not disappoint.

Following on from a strong August and September, the underlining question was at what period in October the market would dip. However, October showed no sign of decline and produced the strongest year-to-date average selling price.

In October, the average selling price of vans at Manheim’s auctions increased by a staggering £541 from September and was £321 higher than any other month in 2016. In addition, October saw the lowest average age and mileage so far this year.

During the month, the average mileage of all stock sold was 73,000 miles and had an average age of 63 months. When compared to September, average age was down by three months and average mileage decreased by 5,000 miles.

On the back of a very strong performing month, Manheim also recorded its second highest conversion rate of the year, improving by 4% compared to September. Performance showed signs of consistency with the total market, recording 98.5% CAP average across all stock sold – the strongest monthly performance all year.

The performance at Manheim, the UK’s number one commercial vehicle auction company, was even more impressive given that 6% more volume was offered in October compared to September, unpinning how healthy the van marketplace has been in recent months.

Average selling price in 2016 has increased by £170 year-on-year on the back of average age and mileage being almost identical to 2015.

Manheim says a third (33%) of all LCV’s selling to online buyers, with 73% of all vans receiving an online bid. One online sale attracted 87 franchise and independent buyers, with a total sales value of more than £427,000, equating to a performance of 103% CAP average.

Matthew Davock, head of LCV at Manheim, said: “Buyer appetite at Manheim has been there to see during October and both physical and online attendances has remained very strong.

“The big question will be around retail demand and whether it will continue to show the consistency it has shown for our buyers. This will be the driving force around conversion rates during November, as if the retail demand softens, condition and price will remain key as buyers will select the cleaner stock first and only buy heavily damaged stock if the price is reserved correctly.”