Used car values are set to remain stable over the coming year due to a shortage of vehicles caused by low new vehicle sales in recent years.
Auto Trader CEO Nathan Coe said he did not see a fall in used car values “in most scenarios” because the market was still short of vehicles, and this would prevail for the foreseeable future.
Sales of new cars in 2019 were 2.3m but this fell to around 1.6m vehicles in 2020 and 2021.
According to Auto Trader data used car sales in Q3 2022 are 8% lower than pre-pandemic 2019 levels.
Values peaked in 2021. In November last year, 26% of nearly new cars were priced above new and this had fallen to 15% in August this year.
The EV push will continue with EV sales accounting for 50% of new car sales in 2026 and 90% by 2030 when the ICE ban comes into effect.
The transition to electric is being hit by the cost of living crisis. EV sales fuelled new car sales in November, but this reflected demand for orders placed earlier in the year when consumer confidence was stronger.
The latest Auto Trader data for dealer EV leads (taken in November) saw a falling off in demand. “Our data shows the cost-of-living crisis and high electricity prices are turning people away from EVs. Battery EVs accounted for just 19% of our retailers’ sales leads in November compared to more than a quarter in June,” said commercial manager Ian Plummer.