The overall average value for a used car at auction dipped 3.04% month-on-month in January while both fleet and part-exchange values both rose fractionally, according to British Car Auctions (BCA).
The January average value was still 18.16% ahead of January 2012 and the second-highest monthly value ever recorded by the BCA Pulse report, only behind December 2012. The average sale compared against the CAP clean rate was 98.21%, the highest figure since 99.05% recorded in September 2011.
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The reduction in value appeared concomitant with the average condition of cars at auction: The average age at auction was 59.03 months, down 1.85% year-on-year but up 2.84% month-on-month; while the average used car had 56,858 miles on the clock, 3.27% below the January 2012 figure and 2.28% above the December figure.
Fleet, part-ex and nearly new
The average value of used fleet vehicles at auction was up 0.20% month-on-month to £8,526 in January, while the average part-exchange value was up by 0.45% to £3,588, each establishing a monthly record by a whisker.
Longer-term, however, the sharp rise in used prices can be seen across 2012: Year-on-year, the fleet average value was up by 14.67% while the part-exchange average value was up by 22.60%.
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By GlobalDataThe average sale against CAP clean was 97.79% in fleet, the highest rate since 98.44% in September 2012 and above the 2012 average of 96.88% for the sector. The average for part exchange was 97.07%, higher than any rate recorded in 2012.
The average value in the ever-fluctuating nearly-new sector was £20,283, down by 9.20% month-on-month but up by 11.70%, year-on-year. This was reflected by a rise in the average age to more than eight months and average mileage to over 9,000, a combination not seen since February to April (inclusive) 2012 when average values dipped to £17,917.
However, the rate against CAP clean was 100.82%, higher than any month in 2012 except September.
Recent commentary
There has been mixed commentary from the used sector of late. While CAP said the used trade appeared ‘slower than usual’ at the start of 2013, having predicted – in November 2012 – difficult trading would last into the year, BCA and Manheim have both been more upbeat.
Following BCA’s record values, overall and by segment, reported for both December and 2012 as a whole, Manheim, celebrating the 300,000th sale using its value update tool and a record sales week in January, has spoken of ‘positive signs’ in the market.
Meanwhile, Nissan, whose UK captive finance provider RCI Financial Services has spoken of the worth of its used vehicle finance business, has begun the year by offering two years’ free servicing on all used Nissan purchases through Nissan Finance.
richard.brown@timetric.com
