Marketplace demand and increasing use of technology are behind the trend of daily rental companies looking to ensure that the cars and vans they remarket are in ready-to-retail condition, according to findings from Epyx.

Its findings identify a shift within the sector throughout 2019 of daily rental companies increasingly trying to ensure that used vehicles reach the used market in grade one-two condition.

Vicky Gardner, head of remarketing at Epyx, said: “There are really two convergent trends behind this. One is that the used sector today overwhelmingly prefers ready-to-retail stock but it remains in short supply, relatively speaking.
 
“What this means is that it really pays for companies such as daily rental operations to ensure that their cars and vans are presented to buyers in grade 1 or 2 condition. The premium being paid over grade 2-3 is very much worth it and they have moved to meet this demand over the last year or more.
 
“The second trend is that, thanks to technology, rental companies are much more aware of the condition of their vehicles on a day-to-day basis and are able to keep them in better shape.
 
“With handheld devices, the thoroughness of checking and recording of data every time that a vehicle is hired vastly exceeds older, largely manual processes. This means that vehicles stay in better condition throughout their life on the fleet.”

In May this year, Aston Barclay published its Used Market Insights Report – The Evolving Fleet Market 2016-2019. Produced for the British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association (BVRLA), the report highlighted how remarketing companies need to evolve to keep up with the market.