People in the motor trade love to make predictions and, of course they are not always. That said, I predict many more predictions by voices within the trade before the year is out.
The latest batch come from car dealers, especially those in the franchised sector, who are predicting tough times ahead for the used car sector in the coming months.
However predictions of tough times for the used car market are not universal it would appear because it seems to depend on what franchise you talk about and in what region of the country you happen to be in.
We have long since given up trying to understand buying patterns and habits although according to many of our sources there has been significantly more activity in the latter half of July, and many of our contacts in the independent sector have had great results in the last few months.
We hear that there is a lot of ex-rental late plate Vauxhall stock around which some dealers are struggling to shift, even at substantial discounts so it is clearly a brand to look at if a bargain is what you’re after, especially Corsa and Astra models.
Many expect the levels of quality retail stock to reduce in the coming months which would potentially create a heating up of the used market in terms of pricing. This indicates that customers could be faced with a lack of choice and higher prices.
Of course with dealers bracing themselves for the rise in VAT, there will be substantial pressure to ensure that a good result is produced for the remainder of 2010.
This means there will have to be an increase in new car sales which at present, according to our sources, are significantly down compared to last year in many areas.
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