But high volumes from ‘staggering’ financial deals expected to damage auction van prices
A “noticeable increase in footfall”, “brisk bidding activity” and a “familiar buzz in the air”. That’s how Britain’s light commercial van auction halls are being described as used values remain buoyant.
The rosy picture was painted by John Watts, international senior editor – commercial vehicles at Cap HPI, who added: “Sale catalogues were much thicker than we’ve seen for some time, with much larger entries from many of the usual vendors. With so many lots to get through, the quickening pace of the auctioneer’s bid calling is relentless and competition among buyers is fierce at times, both in the hall and on the internet and particularly for the more desirable vehicles on offer.”
However, Watts added that, as always with abundant supplies of vans, prices start to fall.
“Most vendors seemed to be clearly aware of the change in market conditions and resigned to the fact that buyers had the edge,” he said.
“With average sales conversion rates running at around 80%, according to some vendors we’ve spoken to, re-entries were also down, which means there was more fresh stock entering the market for the first time.”
Meanwhile, experts at Glass’s Guide said values were holding up well for vehicles presented in reasonable order, complete with a full service history. Anything with a car-like specification or a higher horsepower performed strongly.
Despite significant volumes of vans in a less than desirable condition, average first time conversion rates sat at a very healthy 78.3%, which is 2.7 percentage points higher than in 2015 and represents the second-best performance seen over the past 12 months.
Jayson Whittington, manager – commercial and leisure vehicle valuations at Glass’s, said: “Dealers remain optimistic for further growth, as customers continue to be ‘walked-up’ with ease from late-year used units to new, via some staggering finance deals that are currently available. Significant offers on new eventually filter through to used vehicles and this can have a rapid and damaging effect on used values. We are already seeing the performance of some late-plated units at auction suffer and, if substantial oversupply also hits the open market, values could free-fall.
“Many dealers have reported that, despite strong wholesale performance indicating that clear demand exists, they are actually falling short of the numbers of used units that they were selling at this point last year. In many cases, this has resulted in forecourts approaching capacity and therefore giving them little need to replenish stocks at auction.”
Whittington is also seeing a trend in which vans without creature comforts such as air-conditioning are suffering at auction, especially for vehicles such as the Volkswagen Transporter, which in general has the highest residual value of any LCV.
He said: “The Transporter remains on offer in sensible numbers, with values remaining firm for the best examples. However, those run-of-the-mill models, especially without air-conditioning, are finding trading conditions more difficult.”
Buyers are also being tempted by the Citroën Dispatch, Peugeot Expert and Fiat Scudo, which is about to be replaced later this year. “This is a van that is regularly sought after,” said Whittington. “Examples regularly sell in line with guide, if presented with a decent service history and sensible mileage, while those presented in enterprise or professional spec and with metallic paint will often sell to top condition guide values.”
Most of the big auction houses are also seeing a boost in internet sales as more and more dealers choose to stay in their offices and bid online.
At online remarketer CD Fleet Services, sales have almost doubled in the past year. Managing director Andy Brown said: “As with the car side of our business, we are seeing a huge upsurge in demand to sell vans from our vendor partners. LCV sales volumes in the past year were up by almost 100% over the same period the previous year, generated by a combination of increased volume from existing vendors and new trade vendors. This was supported by a number of new trade buyers, adding extra competition.”
At BCA Auctions, while prices dipped slightly by one percentage point in February over January, year-on-year values were up by 5.7%, while the average van was five months younger and had 1,450 fewer miles on the clock.
BCA LCV operations director Duncan Ward said: “Demand continued in February with trade buyers competing strongly for the best-presented LCVs. We saw LCV sale records broken around the network, notably at Blackbushe. Confidence remains relatively high but, as indicated last month, a two-tier market is developing with the most attractive, retail quality vans often outperforming the market by some margin, while higher mileage or damaged examples are less desirable. It underlines the importance of appraising and valuing vehicles sensibly, as this builds buyer confidence.”
At Manheim, average time in stock for vans sold reduced by seven days in February and, while the average selling price softened slightly compared to January, the average stock profile was six months older, with 3,000 more miles on the clock. Despite age and mileage being almost identical to February 2015, average selling price increased by £283 year-on-year, which can be attributed to both improved vendor engagement and increased buyer activity.
