Used van prices fall 25% during 2008

Manheim’s latest monthly Market Analysis reports that, at £2,536, the average wholesale used van sale price was down 25.2% (£854) in December 2008 compared with December 2007. The fall in December of 2.9% (£77) is less than half the rate of decline in November when the average wholesale used van price was down by 6.3% (£177) compared with the previous month.

Although average wholesale used van prices fell over the past 12 months there were increases attributable to seasonal trends in January 2008 by 1.6% (£53), in February 2008 by 3.6% (£124) and September 2008 by 4.8% (£135). The Market Analysis for December also shows that average mileage at 69,970 was down by 5,932 compared with December 2007. Over the same period the number of days in stock remained at 15 and the average age was down by just one month to 53 months.

During December 2008, while there was an overall fall in average month-on-month values, there were a couple of exceptions in the Car Van and Large Panel Van < 3.0t segments. The average selling price in the Car Van segment rose by 9.8% (£159) compared with November and in the Large Panel Van < 3.0t segment it rose by 8.0% (£179) compared with the previous month. Examples of falls in average month-on-month values in December included Car Derived Vans which fell by 4.0% (£76) and Small Panel Vans which fell by 7.3% (£229) compared with November.

Commenting on the December report, Alex Wright, Sales Director, Commercial Vehicles, Manheim Auctions said: “Oversupply has been one of the main factors driving price re-alignments during 2008 and this, when combined with obvious economic factors, goes a long way to explain why the December values are 25% behind where they were in December 2007. However, the market has made a strong start in January this year with good attendances in both the auction halls and online and, with vendors being more realistic when setting reserves, the buyers are responding.”