Small cars, hot cakes and predictions

There is cautious optimism in the car business at present and it is continuing to be well founded. Wholesale prices are stable and are expected to climb, conversions at the auctions are generally in the high 90% and values continue to rise and long may it continue.

Of course as we all know making predictions with regard to car retailing, or most other businesses for that matter, remains a bit of a hit and miss strategy. You only need to look at house prices which, after a year of quite steady but small rises, apparently are in decline again. I don’t remember anyone predicting that.

With showroom tax about to be foisted on new car buyers and price rises already hurting, customers looking forwards to nabbing a bargain in the used car sector may need to be patient, take a considered approach and do plenty of research before deciding which way to go.

Small cars have sold like the proverbial hot cakes in the last year and car dealers looking to retain that goodwill will doubtless find ways of continuing to attract buyers to those sectors. However car buyers looking to move up the size and price range may find it decidedly more of a challenge.

The usual advice, of course, is to find a car you want to buy and negotiate a great monthly payment by making APR comparisons and ensuring that if you are paying more for the car you can at least save on the add-ons. Our prediction is, particularly in the used car sector, you will have to work a lot harder to find a bargain but that doesn’t mean it cannot be achieved.

On the other hand like many predictions we might be completely wrong.

For more advice on the car buying process and how to save money check out our free Motor Trade Insider Car Buying Crib Sheet.