Used car demand well balanced as volumes continue to rise

Used car demand continued strongly at BCA in August, with the rising supply of stock well matched by increasing demand from professional buyers.

In August, average used car values exceeded £8,000 for the third month in a row, with sold volumes continuing to rise, up by 3.9% over the month.  Conversion rates remain high, typically exceeding 85% across the BCA online sales programme.

BCA sold record numbers of vehicles online in August, with daily online sales entries averaging over 6,000 units, along with a record number of 7,400 vehicles in a packed programme of sales online on Wednesday, 19 August.  It is the highest volume of vehicles ever offered by BCA in online sales in one day.

BCA COO UK Remarketing Stuart Pearson commented “The stable market conditions continued in August, and there was no let-up in activity as we approached the plate change on 1^st September.”

“BCA has seen improving levels of supply reaching the marketplace throughout the period of the pandemic with well-matched demand for stock from our buyer base.  The marketplace is operating very efficiently and this is good news for all professional operators in the used vehicle sector.”

Pearson added “Anecdotally, many dealers are telling us that their stock churn has improved significantly, with many holding lower volumes of stock but still selling as many vehicles as they might have expected pre-Covid19.”

“We continue to enhance our online auction programme to meet the changing needs of our buyers in the post-Covid market, utilising the connectivity and efficiency across the BCA Group to provide more of the right vehicles to the marketplace at the right time.”

Pearson added “Currently all sales remain online only and we’re keeping close to the latest government guidance in order to protect our people, customers and suppliers.”

“We have consistently released updates to the BCA Buyer app, introducing new functionality that makes it even easier for our customers to interact with our online auction platforms.  BCA also introduced a new Click and Collect service to arrange vehicle collection nationwide, safely, socially distanced and in line with current Covid-19 guidance. Everything is arranged online, saving time and improving efficiency and BCA ensures vehicles are sanitised and ready for collection on time.”

*Article Source www.bca.co.uk