cap hpi’s daily data reported an overall increase of 3.7% at the three-year point during the month of August, equivalent to almost £500 per car. Whilst this rise on its own would be quite extraordinary, it comes off the back of value increases seen by cap hpi since car showrooms reopened in April. The valuation agency reported that prices had increased an unprecedented 20.3% in five months, and the industry has experienced six continual monthly increases. In August Auto Trader reported that used car prices had increased by 17.2% as part of its own Retail Price Index measure of vehicles.
Whilst the strong demand for used cars is no doubt welcome, the hike in prices is being exacerbated by a lack of supply. Low vehicle production due to Covid restrictions within manufacturers, and a shortage of semi conductor materials, has led to problems for new car retailers and constrained used car supply. Cazana here suggest that dealers need to see the full market picture on all of their operations, and use data to strategise and obtain the quality of customer they are looking for in a trusted way whilst ensuring that Treating Customers Fairly (TCF) is embedded into the sales process as it should be.