BCA Used Car Market Report finds motorists are changing their buying habits

The BCA have recently announced, in their latest press release, that the used car market was strong last year, seeing an increase in volume and value in their newly published 2012 Used Car Market Report. Although growth was slower last year and average values remained relatively flat. The Used Car Market Report was written and produced for BCA by Professor Peter N C Cooke and the automotive group at The Centre for Automotive Management, University of Buckingham Business School. According to the 2012 BCA Used Car Market Report, 6.7 million used cars were sold last year for a combined value of £35.7 billion – the highest value ever recorded. However, average car values remained flat at £5,336. They forecast that the trend may change due to economic conditions and the fact that buyers may be changing their habits. It was reported earlier that reduced number of used cars being made available for sale is going to affect the market, meaning used cars prices will rise and as more motorists hold onto their vehicles for longer, the age of the second hand motors for sale will increase as well. Tony Gannon, BCA Communications Director commented “The used car sector is now experiencing the full effect of the lower new car sales since the onset of the recession in 2008 and this is changing the dynamics of the marketplace. The diminishing supply of quality cars under five years old means used car retailers are having to extend their focus to include vehicles in the 6-8 year age group, where there is a stronger supply as a result of the higher new car volumes in the early 2000s. In fact, dealer sales of cars aged 6-8 years rose by 63,000 units to 1.1 million last year.”

The report also looked into consumer buying habits and activity. Customers, for the first time in the report, were found to rank the ‘influence of family and friends’ over ‘personal experience’ as the most important factor when purchasing their vehicle. Not surprising, the report also confirms that buyers are now looking to buy cars with better fuel consumption, lower road tax, and smaller cars are preferred over bigger ones when looking to purchase. I look forward to next year’s report to see if the projections came true and if indeed used car prices and values increase and if our vehicle buying habits change as dramatically as they predict.