The Gavel - February 2025
Wholesale used vehicle auction insights from our car, LCV and HGV auction experts: Kevin Blincowe, Stuart Peak and Chris Mynott.
Kevin Blincowe - Car auction market
A strong and successful 2024 saw the car auction market entering the festive period with a great sense of pride and optimism for the year ahead.
Last year solidified many of the seasonal trends we have come to recognise, providing a much-needed sense of market stability and regularity after several years of unpredictability. Used car volumes through the auction lanes grew steadily, driven by an increasing appetite for high-quality stock. A momentum we expect to continue into 2025.
The Christmas break, while seemingly a distant memory now, remains a crucial time for us all. It provides a much-needed pause and opportunity to recharge our batteries, spend time with family, and reflect on the achievements of the past year – all while preparing for the challenges and opportunities ahead. While retail activity continues over the holiday period, one of the unique aspects of the automotive and car auction market is the ability to take a respite before diving headfirst into the next challenge.
So, with a deep breath and renewed ambition we step into 2025 with confidence, ready to build on the successes of last year. We couldn’t have asked for a better start, marked by welcoming one of the UK’s largest dealer groups, Lookers, back into our auction lanes. Their return has provided an immediate and significant volume boost for our buyers in the early months of the year, with the response from customers being overwhelmingly positive. This response only further demonstrates the continued appetite for high-quality stock and reinforcing the strength of our marketplace.
As expected, the traditional January rush arrived right on schedule. This time of year, is synonymous with heightened activity as dealers seek to replenish their forecourts after the Christmas lull. However, this year has brought an interesting dynamic. While demand remains strong and conversion rates are healthy, the severe winter weather has tempered the usual frantic buying behaviour.
Typically, we see exceptionally high prices paid for a broad range of stock, but the colder climate has created a unique window of opportunity, where real value can be found in the car auction market.
As we transition into February, early signs indicate that values are beginning to edge upwards once more. Retail activity appears to be picking up for most buyers and the need to replace sold stock and fill vacant spaces on forecourts is driving renewed competition. As more and more lots attract hotly contested bidding, we anticipate a strong period ahead. The level of engagement from buyers, both online and in the auction lanes, is encouraging and our auction sites are filling up nicely with a diverse and desirable range of stock
All in all, there’s plenty of good news surrounding the used car market right now. Market conditions remain favourable, buyer confidence is strong, and we are seeing a steady supply of quality vehicles entering the lanes.
With momentum building and the fundamentals of the car auction market looking positive, we are excited about what lies ahead in 2025. Our focus remains on delivering exceptional service to our buyers and vendors alike, ensuring that Manheim continues to be the premier destination for used vehicle auctions.
Here’s to another year of growth and success!
Stuart Peak - LCVs
The first blog of 2025 and a lot to report on. First, I have never known such a strong December. With buyers stocking up until our last sale of the year, the conversion rate sat well over 80%, despite a drop off at the end of the year being common. These numbers paved a great path for 2025 as we entered January.
So here we are, at the start of February, and I am pleased to report that the LCV market health in January could be likened to that of an Olympic athlete. First time conversions not only increased further vs December, but they also increased YoY by 10%.
Our total volume sold also increased by 17% vs Jan 2024 and I put this down to one thing: used vans look much more affordable this time around. The LCV market went through a fairly hefty price re-alignment in Q2 and Q3 of 2024, with the volume of used stock available meant it became a buyer’s market. We are now in a place where we’re seeing an almost perfect balance of healthy amount of used stock, strong retail demand and guide prices that are aligned to market conditions.
Our data tells us that only one sector of the LCV market is struggling, and that’s the minibus sector. This particular niche has been slow going into January, after a slow back end of 2024. This is likely down to an abundance of products available meaning buyers have been able to choose the cleaner, more sellable vehicles. Specification also impacted on the numbers, with buses without air conditioning expected to continue under performing.
Finally from me, the LCV auction halls have been rammed with buyers which is backed up with exceptional numbers of users logged on to every sales event. While our LCV auction sites are jam packed, I must give huge credit to our operational teams that are working increased hours to keep the wheels turning.
It’s been a perfect start to 2025, and I am predicting a very strong finish to Q1.
Chris Mynott - Truck and plant auctions
And just like that, it’s February! Time flies when you’re having fun and that’s pretty much a fair representation of the last three months. It’s been a hugely busy period for HGV auctions, largely due to our Gloucester branch, which opened late last year. The entire team is working tirelessly to ensure its success, and I’m pleased to report that everything has been great so far. Our vendors and buyers are loving the perfect mix of physical and online HGV auctions, and the results have been superb!
Our average entry has remained at 200 units with a conversion rate of 70%. Similarly, registered buyer numbers are consistently over 200 for each auction and the footfall grows with each and every sale.
The sale yard is absolutely bursting with kit, so much so that at the beginning of this year we decided to make it a two-day event, adding an online vehicle auction the day after the physical event. This has seen us offer an additional 100+ units from our auction network - plus offsite stock too - and it’s proving to be a huge success. Buyers and vendors alike taking advantage of the multiple options to buy and sell, and the feedback has been fantastic.
As the final quarter of 2024 came to an end, the HGV auction market remained steady, with buyers being particularly selective with an air of cautiousness. Saturated with certain aged product, some kit became hard to shift no matter the price.
To overcome this, we worked with our vendors to sweat the stock and maintain their return. This covered the likes of fleet spec tractor units, box vans, tippers and fridges thanks to seasonality factors. However, we’re pleased to say that offering the stock on various platforms to get them shifted for the right price, worked a treat.
The turn of the year saw the volume of HGVs at auction beginning to rise, but so to an upturn in activity and desire to own. Only a few auctions into the year however, it feels positive – the phone is ringing, we’re opening more and more buyer accounts and turning the stock nicely.
That’s not to say the tricky market times are over though. I firmly believe there’s tough times to come for many vendors in terms of stand-in value vs. actual market value. This is largely due to the covid-time price hikes and the road transport industry not being in the best place right now – but we continue to keep close to our customers and do our best for them all.
Finally, I’m pleased to report that the Manheim HGV auction team has a new member, James Ward, who has joined us as a Business Development Manager. Another truck and plant auction guru who’ll be knocking on doors and filling our auction lanes with high-quality stock. He’s an auction man through and through, and a great addition to our team – welcome, James!
To summarise then, the year is off to a flyer. Our HGV auction centres are crammed with stock and the buyers are making some positive moves.
Let’s crack on and sell some metal!
