Every month at Prices People Pay, we analyse new data that our comprehensive used car price database has collected, to provide you the latest insights into the used car market. Here’s our summary for the month of April.
Top Sellers
April saw a significant decline in supply and transactions as social distancing measures restricting activity across the market.
We saw sales decline by roughly 50% as buyers left the market due to concerns about the economic environment, with prices also seeing decline.
Mid-April saw the peak in the downturn, with the last 2 weeks of April seeing signs of a recovery.
For the first time in recent history, Light Commercial vehicles outsold SUV’s. This is largely due to demand from the trades sector whereas consumer demand for SUV’s was hit stronger.
As social distancing measures are gradually relaxed across the country we expect transaction activity to also gradually increase followed by a recovery in price.
With buyer activity now in a depressed state, mainstay vehicles are seeing the most activity in the market. The Hilux and Ranger are selling far more easily in the market largely to their common use within trade industries.
As we head into the remainder of the year we are likely to see continued softening in prices which will bring more balance to the market.
Sales of less common makes and models are struggling to find traction in current market conditions.
Comparing to last month
As expected we’ve seen significant reductions this month due to the Coronavirus pandemic. All segments have been affected however the light commercial segment has held up remarkably well in comparison. This is largely due to their importance to trade industries and essential services that still need to run despite social distancing measures being in place.
Passenger and SUV vehicles took the brunt of the decline as buyers left the market. In the latter half of April however we did see a recovery, particularly in SUV’s.
As we head into May we expect an increase in transactions as built up stock slowly filters through the market. Despite this there is likely to be stressed conditions for the next few months.
Looking at individual models, there really hasn’t been any winners. The Toyota Camry saw the largest decline however this was off an already high base compared to other vehicles.
The top 5 was dominated by passenger cars with the Ranger the lone non-passenger vehicle making the list.
More light commercial made the list this month compared to last, highlighting the continuing strain that businesses are facing.
Comparing to last year
Year-on-year we’ve seen significant decline across the board.
Passenger vehicles saw a large decline as demand in this segment dried up.
As mentioned earlier, we’re seeing signs of recovery in the market with greater participation by buyers. Our expectations are that May will see a recovery of sorts after 2 months of significant market erosion.
It’s a similar story looking at individual makes as no brand came out a winner. Pretty much ever model saw some decline, with the Toyota Camry seeing the largest.
Even though some of the large volume sellers look to have seen the most decline, on a percentage basis they are faring better than some of the more niche and uncommon brands.
For the remainder of the year we expect most of the focus to be on mainstay vehicles like the Ranger, Hilux, Camry as well as small hatchbacks. We expect buyer activity from essential services as well as greater interest in smaller, cheaper vehicles to direct demand towards these areas of the market most.
Data Source
Prices People Pay sources data exclusively from Datium Insights. Feel free to check out their products and services page for more info.
You explained the details of used car sales with statistics. Nice one. Thanks!
Thanks, appreciate the comment.