Used van market under pressure
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A reluctance to get finance and mouth-watering deals served by manufacturers for brand new vans have weakened demand for late-year stock
Words: Steve Banner VAN BUYERS are proving reluctant to purchase late-registered vehicles because they don’t want inance and the new sector is offering attractive deals.
Alex Wright, MD of Shoreham Vehicle Auctions, says if you can get just as good a deal on a brand-new model, then a late-plate used one suddenly becomes less appealing. “Sales of younger, nearly new vehicles in the £8,000-£15,000 bracket are patchy.
“These vehicles generally require inance and, with few able to afford the higher price tags, sales are sporadic. With the myriad of new vehicle deals set to continue this will put further pressure on prices of the nearly new stock,” he says.
On the other hand vans that are fouryears-old or more and competitively priced are selling strongly, as buyers can often afford to pay cash for them. As a consequence Wright is not worried about the state of the used market and believes that early autumn will see a healthy upswing in demand. “September should be a strong month for sales,” he contends. ■