subject: Used Vans For Sale Will Government Regulations Become A Stumbling Block? [print this page] The last two years have been tough for the economy and the van industry has had a rough time. Sales have dropped, fuel costs have been fluctuating and some major manufacturers have had to take it on the chin and have been forced to ask for bailouts from the governments.
However, the silver lining is that the used vehicle segment of the market has done much better. Serious buyers have found deals at auctions extremely competitive and have gone ahead with their purchases. The conversion rate has thus been much higher.
The reason for this has been reduced supply of used vehicles. With the scrappage scheme becoming a success only for cars and many individuals trading in their old used vehicles for new ones, the supply of used cars did take a hit. However it did not do much to help van sales due to the ten year cutoff date and there are very few vehicles beyond that stipulation.
This led to a firming up of used van prices and those who put up used vans for sale could get much higher prices from private buyers who knowing fully well that they cannot get anything better than what was being offered responded positively.
The current sentiment is favouring specifically used van models in good condition and with metallic paint as buyers are looking for vehicles with some enhancements. Used panel van sales are also increasing if there are no visible signs of any damage. The wholesale van market is showing resilience with very marginal drop in values. Experts attribute this strength to greater number of online transactions also happening as compared to last year and conversions
improving drastically.
So what is the main reason behind this boom in used vans for sale?
Well the primary reason is belt-tightening and fleet companies are off loading surplus vehicles into the used market. Buyers seeking value in these times know that they can get good deals and are fuelling the demand by making purchases at dealer showroom, online and at auction houses without wasting much time.
Experts feel that the scrappage scheme would have been more effective for used vans if the cutoff period was maintained at seven years instead of ten since LCVs wear out much faster and you would hardly have vehicles lasting ten years to benefit from the scheme. That would have promoted new van sales and the reputed van manufacturers would not have had to show dismal sales figures.
The controversy over the new emissions target fixed by the European Commission is also creating a controversy as the SMMT feels the phasing in time period of the fleet target of 175g CO2/km or 42.8mpg of just two years between 2014 and 2016 is too short and does not take into consideration the seven year burnout of such vehicles. They also feel that the lead times must be increased to enable them to come out with products that are affordable and which can meet environment sustaining standards.
