Car-derived vans, pick-ups and 4x4s are doing especially strong business, Alex Wright, commercial vehicle sales director at Manheim has claimed, with vehicles often being snapped up at first offering.
The star of the show in the car-derived sector is the new-shape Volkswagen Caddy, although non-white Renault Kangoos and Citroen Berlingos are also performing very strongly.
Wright said: ‘Car-derived vans are almost always guaranteed to sell at present. With so few car-derived vans in the market, we predict that this healthy spell can only continue.’
And the story is much the same in the pick-up/ 4x4 sector. Wright said: ‘Pick-ups and 4x4s are selling particularly well at auction. Manheim Gloucester achieved book money on a variety of Ford Ranger 4x4 XLT double-cabs. I would have predicted that the launch of the new Mitsubishi L200 would have a knock-on effect for older models.
However, although the one to two-year-old vehicles have been affected to a certain degree, four-year-old models and older are still commanding good money.’
Wright also said that buyers had switched on to the fact that now was the time to buy a van in the large panel van (3.0-tonnes and above) sector. He claimed that plenty of vehicles were available, resulting in reasonable prices.
He added: ‘The one vehicle of note here is the Volkswagen LT35. A number have come in from rental fleets in the past month and the reasonable mileage, coupled with tidy condition, has kept prices high.’
In the small panel van sector, life is similarly rosy. Wright said: ‘In a recent sale, a batch of new shape Volkswagen Transporters were offered at Manheim Gloucester and every one of them was fought over by five or six bidders, each time pushing prices to around £800/£1,000 over reserve.
‘The Ford Connect long wheelbase is also enjoying a healthy spell. That is pushing prices to the top of book and beyond, with buyers unable to get enough of this model.’
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