With retail demand more muted in March, there was a similar picture in the remarketing world...

 Many dealers remained reluctant to buy in bulk, wary of overstocking and paying high prices when the market seemed to be on the cusp of a downturn. There was still activity, but it has certainly been more considered over recent weeks. Many remarketers have far fewer cars to sell than in previous years. With new car supply severely curtailed, we continue to witness vastly reduced volumes from fleets, particularly rental companies, and manufacturers.

Car editorial By cap hpi The performance of the auction houses was mixed through the month. At the start of March, vehicles in the market below £12,000 remained in relatively strong demand whilst cars above this amount were more challenging. As the month progressed, even these cheaper vehicles started to become tougher to sell as confidence in the market was reducing.

Conversions from dealer auction sales ranged between 70% to 90% while the fleet and leasing sales conversion rates in some cases were in the 50%s. The volume of people logging on and watching sales also dropped and many were just watching and not engaging. Physical attendances also dropped away as the month progressed.

Dealers are still buying but have become more selective. Some vendors, particularly those with volume, have adapted their expectations and lowered reserve prices on cars and this did lead to some increases in conversion rates from the middle of the month, but at the expense of percentage of monthly cap performance.

Those that did not lower their reserves suffered some particularly low conversion rates, to the levels not seen for many months. The volume of trade data remains some way below pre-COVID times, led by lower supply due to new car reductions, now reduced demand, and also retailers holding onto a larger proportion of part-exchanges to retail rather than trade