Used cars in the pound seats as buyers seek bargains

“The price of new vehicles has gone up and there is affordability pressure on consumers, so they are looking at used vehicles.”

He says with the repossessions taking place there is a good supply of used vehicles and this is helping people to find appropriate cars.

In the past, vehicle auctions were dominated by dealers picking up stock, but in today's market there are a lot more end users buying cars for themselves. This supports prices, despite an increased supply of vehicles.

Chris de Kock, sales and marketing director at WesBank, says: “In cycles such as we are going through at present the used car market is usually one of the first to show signs of recovery.

“We have been waiting for these signs for a long time and fortunately we are starting to see a pickup in used-car sales.”

He says the used-car market is performing well and dealers are saying there is a shortage of good quality used stock. Asset financiers are seeing this reflected in the sales of their repossessions.

“This is a good sign and shows that we are already at the plateau of the market.

“We are likely to drag along the bottom for three to six months before we start to see a gentle resurgence in the early part of next year,” De Kock says.

Source: Business Day

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