Wholesale van arrivals at Cox Automotive hit a five-year high in January, demonstrating a strong start to 2023.
During January, 8,722 LCV units arrived through its Manheim Auction Services (MAS) and Manheim Vehicle Services (MVS) locations across the UK.
Such increased wholesale volumes have been matched with a “super-heated” uptake of demand from buyers, with record demand witnessed in Manheim’s auction channels.
Matthew Davock, director of Manheim Commercial Vehicles, commented said many fleet, lease, rental and finance LCV volumes had shown noticeable increases in January.
“This surge can be attributed to several factors,” he continued, “not least a number of fleets defleeting much earlier than normal due to reduced vehicle utilisation over the Christmas period, and the arrival of new electric and diesel vans. This correlates with the positive new registrations reported by the SMMT this week, with 25.8% more registrations than January 2022 and electric vans showing a 50% increase versus year on year.
“Historically the van market wouldn’t usually take off until mid-January, but this year it’s been strong from day one, with 79% of vans selling first time in the first week of January, increasing to 83% by the close of the month – the strongest first-time conversion for 17 months.”
2023 is also shaping up to have surprising stock dynamics in store. Cox’s latest research shows wholesale van age and mileage dynamics are expected to play a significant role during the first half of this year. Vehicle age has increased to 70 months (or nearly six years of age) on average for the units sold – a seven-month increase year on year and a 10-month increase on the last three-year auction averages. It was also the oldest stock profile ever seen for a January market period at Manheim.
Mileage dynamics and the defleeting of ‘pandemic worn condition’ vans was also evident during January. Average mileage hit 80,448, up marginally year on year, but 42% of the catalogue entries were recorded at 128,000 miles on average, giving buyers and vendors stock dynamics they have never seen before. The sweet spot during the month for performance was the 3-5 year-old categorisation, making up 37% of the overall volume and achieving 111% of guide values with average mileages being recorded at 66,000 miles.
Based on all the above key profile indicators, the average selling price of vans remained strong at £9,621; 43% of the stock being Euro 5 or older stock achieving £5,171 on average, and 57% being Euro 6 compliant used, achieving £12,788.
January bowed out with the strongest performance for guides being achieved: vans making 5.2% more than in November and December 2022 used averages, and 41% of stock achieving in excess of guide valuations during the month.
Davock added: “The wholesale LCV market is off to a flying start at Manheim and we predict this market will continue to show positive signs in Q1. That said, we always recommend being cautious of market seasonality, especially alongside the Euro 5 price alignment predicted for Q2 as more ULEZ and scrappage deal rollouts are planned to go live.”
