Not All Doom and Gloom In The Car Market

As the new car market plummets to another all time low, there is better news in the second hand vehicle arena as auction houses are starting to see climbing figures.

There is no arguing with the fact that the new car market is suffering. Car retailers are having to make large portions of their workforce redundant due to a drop in demand and subsequent slow down of production. Job losses have also come from the premium car makers Bentley which shows that no market level is safe from the poor economy. Official figures show a 30.9% fall in new car registrations in January as compared to the previous year according to the Society of Motor Manufactures. This is apparently the biggest fall since 1974 and the trend looks set to continue. Industry experts are suggesting that the new car market won’t see an upturn for at least three years.

The market for second hand card has not been hit so hard, in fact there have been suggestions that numbers are healthy. Two of the countries most well know auction houses, Manheim and BCA have come forward to state that they have seem some record numbers of cars being put up for bidding. BCA said that more cars and vans were sold throughout January 2010 than any previous year and cost of vehicles has risen for the last 3 months. Estimations have been put forward that suggest an average £300 increase.

Car leasing is also on the up it seems as the major leasers are reporting improving numbers this year. This is a likely result of people choosing to lease their vehicles during this economic downturn rather than commit to purchasing them outright. Traditionaly vechicle leasing companies have done very well from periods of economic downturn, and this one seems to be no different.

Average wholesale van costs went up by close to £140 according to the other well known auction house – Manheim. The increase marks the first upturn since last year’s September. Cars with 4-wheel-drive have seen the best improvements in sales, with 6 consecutive months of increase.

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