Volumes of sales through epyx’s fleet remarketing platform are now exceeding pre-lockdown levels, the company reports.

Its 1link Disposal Network is used by fleets and leasing companies to sell cars and vans to a community of more than 3,000 independent and franchise traders.

Debbie Fox, commercial director at epyx, said there were signs that the remarketing sector is now developing a sustainable cycle, following the worst of the coronavirus crisis.

“When dealers first reopened a few weeks ago, there was still very little activity on the platform because they needed to sell stock that they had been holding for several months.

“However, most have had a very buoyant immediate post-lockdown period and now need to replenish their stock levels, so we are starting to see that feeding through into increased demand.

“Certainly, over the last week, sales volumes on 1link Disposal Network are ramping up and beating the kinds of levels that we saw in March before the crisis started to really bite.

“The supply side is also beginning to improve, with fleets that provide stock onto the platform entering into relatively routine defleeting. A rhythm to remarketing activity is emerging.

“Of course, there’s a question mark over whether this represents the kind of trading pattern that we will see for the rest of the year – and no-one knows the answer to that – but we do seem to be back into a relatively normal cycle of selling and replenishing stock,” Fox said.