Demand for stock exceeded supply in September wholesale market, meaning that 87% of vehicles sold first-time at Manheim.

Data released by Cox Automotive reveals a competitive wholesale market driven by low September stock levels. It states that vehicle remarketer Manheim also reported that most of those vehicles sold achieve or exceeded the guide price.

Prices held strong

The Manheim figures show that “average age and mileage returned to normal levels, following a low-mileage blip in August”. Strong buyer demand saw the average price hold strong at £9,745 (up 0.8% MoM) despite a 35% increase in average mileage.

Preregistration

Philip Nothard, customer insight and strategy director – car, at Cox Automotive, said: “August and September have been challenging in the new car market, and in fact, preregistration activity has slightly obscured the true market picture.

“On a positive note, registrations of new fleet vehicles were up 8.6% YoY in September, but still 16% behind the 2017 figure which clearly had an impact on the level of stock in the wholesale market. At the same time, low new-car sales and long lead times have pushed dealers towards the used market, generating high demand for good quality used stock.

“With uncertainty around Brexit, and the impending introduction of CAFE targets, manufacturers in the UK market are facing a perfect storm at present and it’s likely that we’ll continue to see low levels of used stock over the coming weeks.

“With retailers reporting reasonable levels of demand for the right cars, fleet stock is set to be in hot demand over the months ahead.”

The data comes as SMMT figures show that fleet and business new car registrations dropped by 2.6% in the first three quarters of the year.

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