13 Oct, 2024

Retail prices stabilizing as used sales growth returns

Consumer demand, speed of sales and transactions in the used car market all rallied in February, according to the latest data from Auto Trader.

Despite such favorable market conditions and robust underlying market health, average retail prices were down -8.3% year-on-year (YoY), marking the sixth consecutive month of decline.

There are signs, however, of retail prices stabilising, with February recording the lowest rate of month-on-month (MoM) contraction (-0.6%) since October 2023.

Demonstrating the strength of the used car market, Auto Trader recorded circa 81.7 million cross platform visits to its marketplace in February, which was a 9.4% increase on the same period last year.

This increased engagement on site is being fueled by the robust levels of consumer demand; Auto Trader’s data shows that demand was up 8% YoY in February, which was an uptick on the 6% recorded in January.

Reassuringly, Auto Trader’s consumer research points to sustained demand, with around 80% of in-market car buyers surveyed claiming to be as confident in their ability to afford their next car as they were last year; nearly a third (31%) said they were ‘much more’ confident.

Current demand is further highlighted by the current speed at which used cars are

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Car values ​​increase along with demand for used vehicles & average years on the road

NEW YORK — Consumers often hear a car loses its value once you drive it off the lot, but that may not be the case anymore.

The automotive research firm Black Book found cars are now holding on to about 10% more of their value after three years than they were during the pandemic.

“Everybody was expecting a big drop, a shatter, an explosion, values ​​to drop when supply came back. Totally didn’t happen,” Shane Sutherland, who owns the used car dealership Northport Motors, told CBS New York’s John Dias.

Sutherland told Dias his company Northport Motors grew tenfold during and shortly after the COVID pandemic, and the business is still profitable.

“We are constantly selling vehicles with 80-100,000 miles that are providing excellent value for customers,” said Sutherland.

According to data from S&P Global Mobility, the average age of a passenger vehicle is up three months compared to last year — now on the road for a record 12.5 years — and it’s common to see some people driving cars 20 years or older.

“Your used car is worth that much more at trade-in or to sell it on the open market. But it’s a bad thing for people

1 min read