Fleet vehicle values rose by 6.3% in April at Manheim's auction centres.

Prices rose by an average of £402, to £6,799, reflecting strong demand among consumers for quality used cars, with known provenance and good service history.

For younger, lower mileage manufacturer fleet stock, average auction selling prices softened in April, falling by an average of £1,432, down to £12,497, likely reflecting the pressure on dealers to achieve targets for new car sales and the attractiveness of PCP financing for car buyers.

The average mileage of vehicles sold at Manheim’s auctions continued to decrease, with an average odometer reading in April of 63,733, down 2.2% from March. A fall in driven distances was recorded for all vendor stock, with manufacturer fleet vehicles showing the biggest monthly drop in mileage of 11.1%.

The wholesale demand for SUVs also remained strong in April, perhaps due to mixed meteorological conditions, with average selling prices rising by £851 (10.2%) overall, and £1,059 (13.7%) in the part-exchange market.

Conversion rates appeared to remain strong in April, with Manheim’s data showing an average of 9.5 days in stock for vehicles sold at auction – an increase of less than 1 day from March.