December results top off a record year for LCVs at Manheim
Manheim, the UK’s number one CV auction company, finished 2018 with another strong month, marking the end of a record-breaking year.
Results in December 2018 saw the volume of vehicles passing through Manheim’s auction lanes increase by 11% year-on-year compared to the same period in 2017.
In terms of vehicle mix, average age and mileage held steady year-on-year, while the average selling price rose to £6,028, 19% up on December 2017.
First-time conversion rates remained healthy, and while physical buyer attendance was slightly down, Manheim reported an impressive 7% year-on-year increase in registered online buyers, with 42% of vehicles sold online.
Matthew Davock, Director of Commercial Vehicles, said: “December can traditionally be a challenging month for the automotive industry, but with such a buoyant market, vendors were keen to offer vehicles right up to the last working day of the year. As a result, we delivered more sales than ever in December to finish off a record-breaking year in style.”
The last 12 months proved to be a record-breaking period for commercial vehicles at Manheim as the market showed impressive levels of strength and consistency.
The biggest story of 2018 was undoubtedly the double-digit growth in the average wholesale price, which was £6,112 for the year - an increase of 14% on 2017. Manheim recorded an overall CAP performance of 98.58% for the year (up 3.06%) while average vehicle age and mileage remained steady year-on-year.
The buoyant LCV market also led to strong conversion rates, with 82% of vehicles selling first time, and a four day fall in the number of days to sell.
Davock added: “We have never seen the used van market place perform at the level it reached throughout 2018. At Manheim, we have welcomed our highest ever number of buyer and vendor customers, with the number of buyer accounts up 11% on last year.”
“The market has also exceeded expectations across the board, with the consistency of performance underlining the strength in the LCV wholesale arena.”
Another significant development in the LCV market was increased confidence in online buying, with 37% of vehicles sold through Simulcast, Manheim’s online auction bidding platform (up 5% year-on-year).
Manheim capitalised on this with ‘online only’ van events, and ‘buy now’ weekly programmes throughout the year.
Davock concluded: “There’s been a steady increase in online buying over the past few years, and 2018 saw us introduce SureCheck LCV, our industry-leading mechanical inspection. This, supported by state-of-the-art imagery, has really helped to increase confidence in buying online.”
“Commercial vehicles are an extremely important part of the Manheim business, and we’ve invested in new services and innovative routes to market that add value to our clients and partners.
“Looking forward to 2019, we see an industry that’s faced with more change than ever, especially with WLTP, Brexit, ULEZ, and CAZ on the horizon. However, based on the strength in the LCV market over the past twelve months, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic.
