COLIN Thompson presented the key trends affecting Lex Autolease pricing policies at the Lex Autolease Broker Conference.
He said: “The turning point has been reached in the used car market – we expect to see a softening in values over the next two years with record levels of supply following consecutive years of increasing new vehicle registrations.”
However, more cheery news was the fact that the market is expected to return to current values in three to four years as general price inflation and continued economic prosperity offsets the increase in volume”
It’s a different story for the van market though.
Colin: “LCV prices are more directly related to GDP and there remains an ongoing shortage of 3-5 year old LCVs which will continue to support market values for the next couple of years whilst the reduction in registrations in 2008-10 takes its’ time to work back through the market.”
Other key trends highlighted by Colin included:
- Diesel premium over petrol remains, although at risk given increased focus on NOx emissions
- Hybrid premium over combustion equivalent varies from vehicle to vehicle, with greater stability from more established Toyota products than newer entrants with less market credibility
- SUV sector continues to expand with many new entrants, likely to have an adverse impact on residual values in the longer term
- Small lower medium holding values
- Large vehicle values being squeezed
