MPV demand stays strong as more holidays are taken in the UK

|The summer moves along at a pace and on my recent camping holiday (Roman Abramovich’s yacht was booked up unfortunately) I couldn’t help noticing how many “sensible” cars I saw parked next to the tents.

It appears that with many of us deciding, for economic reasons, to holiday in the UK we are also snapping up MPV’s and estates (station wagons, shooting brakes call them what you will) to carry extra luggage and passengers.

It may just be me but I am sure there seems to be far more tents and caravans around than ever before and we needed to try at least 3 campsites before finally securing a pitch (nothing like planning ahead is there?) but it does confirm to me why there has been so much interest in all kinds of people carriers. Usually by June and July the demand for MOV’s has already peaked and the prices slowly decline as a result but this year the demand seems to show no signs of abating.

Of course many cars are seasonal and there has been a steady decline in demand for premium 4wd product. Whereas the prices have remained high for most of the year there are now clear indicators that values are dropping off and there are certainly many more to choose from on car forecourts.

This is not to say of course that the four wheel drive market will return to the dark days of 2008 when you couldn’t sell one for love or money and being an owner of a “Chelsea Tractor” gave you the same social pariah status as estate agents and bankers. If you are in the market for a four wheel drive it is certainly worth shopping around as it might just be the right time if someone is thinking about a ‘nice bit of flash’ for their money to accompany them on next year’s camping trip!