Was December a turning point in used car values?

In our December webinar, we reported that the used car market had changed. For the first time since the start of 2021, values dipped. But, it is important to remember that the market at that point was highly unusual. For example, Live values had just gone up by the highest ever monetary amount back in September.

At the benchmark 3-year, 60,000 mile point, values in November dropped by 1.2%, equivalent to £235.

There are a number of different ways of construing this movement. Yes, it is the first average drop in Live values since February, but it is similar to the increase in October and the second strongest move going into December since we introduced Live values in 2012. The most positive move in a November was in 2019, where values dropped by -0.6%, off the back of some heavy drops earlier in the year. To give this some context, the average since 2012 is minus 2.1%. So, one very strong argument is that the market remains strong. Values have traditionally always dropped at this time of year.

We’re describing this as a plateauing of values – they remain strong and the increases were never going to carry on for ever.

In the used van market, the monthly movements across 2021 have not seen a negative movement all year, and cumulatively, over the past 2 years have moved up nearly 31%. What is clear is that Euro 6 vehicles are performing better than Euro 5

With a LCV parc of over 4.3 million vans, of which only 2 million by the end of the year will be Euro 6, we will be watching closely how this split in Euro 6 and others pans out in 2022. Overall, similar to cars, performance, although tailing off in the latter months of the year has still been strong. The Euro standard performance will be one to watch going forward to see if the drift between the standards starts to increase.

Was December a turning point in used car values?