Gloves are off in price rumpus - Used prices row
02.02.2008 01:12
Auto
- Source: Auto Express
Britain’s leading car rental companies have slammed talk of a fall in used values this year. The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) – which represents nearly 800 member firms – predicts strong performance from the second-hand market in 2008. But that’s at odds with trade prices guide Glass’s.
Auto Express was first to report Glass’s warnings of a 400 decrease in prices. Experts said they based their calculations on a weakening economy, high interest rates and a stalled property market.
However, a spokesman for the BVRLA told us: “When there is financial pressure on buyers, as there is at the moment, they tend to move away from new cars to slightly older models. So we believe the market for three-year-old vehicles will continue to perform strongly.” He added that he saw no reason to forecast a dramatic drop in values, and pointed out such a change wasn’t even on the agenda when the BVRLA got together with Glass’s for one of its twice-yearly meetings late in 2007. He even accused the price guide of jumping on the recession bandwagon by making the ‘maverick’ claims.
But the experts at Glass’s are unmoved by the row. Managing editor Adrian Rushmore said: “In the final quarter of last year, it was widely reported that market conditions faced by dealers were more challenging, which has had an impact on their sales turnover.”
It has prompted higher than usual winter price cuts, as traders try to draw customers back to the forecourts. “This leads us to the conclusion that a further fall of 400 this year is a possibility,” Rushmore added.Bookmark this post with:FacebookDiggDeliciousFurlStumbleupon
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