Reports from some of our sources this week have reported a sudden surge in sales of used 4wd prestige products such as Audi Q7, VW Touareg and BMW X5 to name a few. This just confirms that even during a downturn in the market – where these high maintenance beasts have further to fall than most – customers still recognise value for money when they see it. When you can buy a car like one of these examples for almost half what it listed for brand new after less than a year, then that is value in anyone’s language. let’s face it if you have ever gazed longingly at one of these monsters and thought that you would never be likely to own one and suddenly for a few grand deposit and £350 per month you can now drive one out of the showroom, you just sometimes have to think; “this life is a short one go for it”.
This actually happened to a colleague of mine who is in the motor trade, believe it or not although he drives a nice demonstrator car which comes with his job, he couldn’t resist the great finance deal and price, so if you want an endorsement of any of your product range it certainly helps when the staff start buying the cars!
There are losers of course and although manufacturers are responding by attempting to reduce new car prices to compete with the used car sector the disparity remains such that there is a compelling financial case to buy nearly new and customers are clearly appreciating this. A stock purchaser for a well known brand informed us that he has bought more than 30 4wd’s from the wholesale market in the last 2 months and his dealers have retailed all but 3 of them.
So there you have it, it’s down to price and value or perception of value and if you look carefully there are several deals out there which might just float your boat.
Look out for further updates in the New Year!
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