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 January.
Top Sellers
Passenger vehicles still lead the way in volume of sales and we’ve observed an increase for January. December generally sees a decline in stock due to the holiday season, so it’s no surprise seeing this supply increase.
As sales of passenger vehicles decline in the new car market we expect to see people in the used car market turn them over as well to procure SUV’s and Light Commercials. This may explain some of the increased sales of passenger vehicles we saw however we expect the ongoing trend to be a steady decline.
SUV’s have also seen a marked increase in sales, with light commercials seeing some decline. With fleets and businesses looking to extend the life of their trade vehicles we expect the volume of light commercials to remain suppressed for the medium term.
Looking at individual models, the Toyota Camry retains the lead in January. Toyota continues to dominate the used car sales market with 4 of the top 5 most common sellers being Toyota badged. While the Camry, Hilux and Corolla stay firm in the top 3 spots the Ranger and Rav4 round out the remaining 2 spots. The Ranger has seen a little decline in stock however we expect this to increase in the coming months.
SUV’s and commercial vehicles dominate the list this month alongside a small of passenger cars, mainly hatchbacks. As fewer passenger vehicles enter the used car supply we expect the list to continue being dominated by SUV’s in particular.
Comparing to last month
We expected a large increase in supply in January which took place with all segments seeing an upswing. As we move into 2020 we expect supply overall to steadily increase as businesses re-open following the end of the holiday period in December.
Looking at individual models, there’s unsurprisingly more increasing movements in supply across the board. Toyota has dominated most of the increasing stock with the Camry, Kluger, Corolla and Hilux seeing the largest increase in stock from last month.
Interestingly the Audi Q5 saw a significant bump in January however we expect this to be a one off with supply petering out in the coming months.
While the Commodore, Territory and Captiva still seem to be selling in some numbers we also expect stock of these vehicles to dwindle due to the end of their production over the past few years.
Comparing to last year
Year-on-Year we’ve actually seen a reduction in sales overall for January, driven by a drop in Light Commercials. Due to the economic climate it’s likely more businesses are holding onto their current trade vehicles as opposed to turning them over for new ones.
The reduction in new car sales over the past 18 months is also continuing to have an effect in reducing supply entering the used car market, so we expect supply to decline somewhat gradually over the course of the next 12 months. Passenger vehicles have seen the sharpest decline in new car sales and we’ve seen that in the used car market in January.
Compared to last year we’ve generally seen increases in passenger and SUV models like the Camry, Golf and Rav4. Conversely, light commercials like the Hilux and Ranger have seen a decline, most likely due to current economic conditions affecting businesses.
Going into 2020 we expect supply for SUV’s and Light Commercials to gradually pick up as businesses begin to spend capital and turnover their vehicles.
Data Source
Prices People Pay sources data exclusively from Datium Insights. Feel free to check out their products and services page for more info.
