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 September.
Top Sellers
During the winter period the market generally sees an influx of vehicles from the rental car industry, primarily consisting of Passenger and SUV vehicles, which adds to the supply. Passenger vehicles remain the primary seller in the market for September, followed by SUV’s and Light Commercials.
This contrasts with the new car market where SUV’s are the biggest seller, highlighting the new car market trend of diminishing Passenger vehicle sales is still taking time to flow through into the used car market.
Looking at individual models, Toyota continues to dominate the used car sales market with 3 of the top 5 most common sellers being Toyota badged. While the Hilux and Ranger stay firm in the top 2 spots (making up the majority of sellers in the light commercial space) the Camry, Corolla and Holden Commodore round out the remaining 3 spots.
Some major movers include the Volkswagen Golf, Subaru Forester, Toyota Landcruiser Prado and Ford Territory. The Golf and Forester have seen increased supply in September, with the Forester seeing some returning stock from the rental market. On the other hand, supply has lessened for the Territory and Prado. With the discontinuation of the Territory we’re likely to see this vehicle drop further as the last batch of ex-fleet leases expire.
Comparing to last month
Comparing this month’s results to last, we’ve seen lesser supply hitting the market across all vehicle segments, although the decline is relatively small. We generally see less supply in August and September each year which reverses from October, so expect to see some increased supply from next month on wards.
Looking at individual models, there’s been mixed movements across the board as supply has largely stayed flat in comparison to August. The Volkswagen Golf and Ford Ranger have seen the largest swings, with the Golf seeing a slight bump in supply from the rental and OEM space, while the Ranger has seen declining stock from the fleet industry as lessees look to be extending their leases instead of turning them in.
Comparing to last year
Year-on-Year we’ve seen a reduction in sales for September for the Passenger segment, with immaterial movements in the SUV and Light Commercial segments. This reflects the changing composition of vehicles entering the used car market. With SUV’s and Light Commercial utes gaining market share in new car sales we expect to see reductions in sales of Passenger vehicles in the used car market moving forward.
Similarly, we’re seeing a reflection of activity in the new car market in sales of individual models. Passenger vehicles like the Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla and Holden Cruze have all seen sale numbers reduce compared to September last year.
The Toyota Camry has seen a reduction even though it’s been a strong seller in the new car market, explaining the stronger prices we’ve seen for the Camry over the past few months due to short supply.
While we’ve seen reductions in sales of SUV’s, some of the greatest reductions have been for the Holden Captiva and Ford Territory which are two models that have been discontinued. As we move closer to the end of the year we expect sales for SUV’s and Light Commercial utes to increase due to greater supply from new car sales.
Data Source
Prices People Pay sources data exclusively from Datium Insights. Feel free to check out their products and services page for more info.
