Autoi has released data showing that dealers appraised almost as many used cars for stock purchase or part-exchange in January 2017 as they did in September 2016.
The firm says that changes to Vehicle Excise Duty due from April this year have sparked additional demand for new cars during the first quarter and that much of the surge in appraisal activity is related to part-exchange valuations. Autoi interprets the surge in appraisals as an indicator of a strong 1st quarter for registrations in 2017, and says the data also confirms a shift in dealer focus to used cars as a longer term hedge against a slowdown in new car sales later in the year.
The appraisals firm says that analysing trade appraisal activity offers behind-the-scenes insight into how busy dealers are, and can supple more overt measures such as searches for stock and trade car purchases.January appraisals carried out by dealers through Autoi were seven per cent short of September 2016 – last year’s most active month – and were significantly ahead of January 2016.
Autoi founder Sébastien Duval said: “Everyone expects an upswing at the start of the year but 2017 has been particularly strong.“After benchmarking our market insights from January and early February against the busy month of September, rather than the quiet period toward the back end of the year, it is clear that this is a genuinely robust used car market.
“The activity within dealerships, captured through the Autoi appraisal system is confirmation that the market has remained busy and that our figures are not distorted by the novelty of our creation of new channels for purchasing stock.All of this supports predictions from ourselves and others that 2017 will be very strong for the used car market.”
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