BBC – Behind with the news

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Shock horror, the BBC and other ‘news’ outlets have suddenly realised that used car prices are on the increase, well welcome to our world! MTI has been saying this since around March. No doubt all the spokesman from the trade guides and probably Parker’s will be wheeled out to give their opinions about the market, talk about the horse has bolted. These publications have been caught out just like the rest of us and indeed they have only very recently caught the market up such was the acceleration in used car values in the UK. Even rent a quote motoring journalist Quentin Wilson was asked his opinion on the breakfast news and seeing as he has nothing to do with the actual trade these days and just regurgitates old stories how can he be relied on to give an accurate and most importantly up to date barometer of used car prices?
If we could turn the clock back to December of last year prices on used cars were so depressed that if you had bought £1million worth of cars of virtually any make and type and just kept them in a field until June or July you could have made enough spare cash to buy yourself an executive family home just by selling them to the trade, that is not to mention the retail up lift. That thought has probably crossed the minds of many players in the used car world, so why now has the BBC and the like suddenly decided that this is now news?

The lack of new cars being built and the scrappage scheme affecting the supply of part-exchanges has led to chronic stock shortages and the overheating of the market. Although some spokespeople say that there will be more used cars in the market in the last quarter due to rental and lease companies deciding to de-fleet more cars after the summer rush, it may still be a while before the situation gets around to any form of normality.

The difference between MTI and these news outlets is that we are in daily contact with most aspects of the car market which means we are in a position to produce ‘live’ information from operatives working with cars everyday whereas the lazy journalists who are riding on the back of spokespeople from the trade guides are clearly behind the times.MTI is the place to come to for opinion, guidance and tips but also the lowdown on the fluid situation in the motor trade and car sales. Unfortunately the public who receive information from newspapers and the BBC react to this out of date news when in showrooms and therefore often come away confused and disappointed (and without a car).

Every day we hear stories of customers entering car showrooms and stating that ‘everyone knows you guys are in trouble and not selling any cars, it’s in the news, so where is my large discount?’ The reality is that information is probably six months out of date, and as according to our IT boffins, the BBC are regular visitors to motor-trade-insider.com, they might at least have the decency to give us the credit for breaking the news or at the very least, if they are going to use us a reference, then get the timing right!