NEWS

As many of you know the Euros football tournament is currently behind held and is now down to the final 16 teams. There is nothing like a big sports tournament to bring out the competition between countries and the Euros is no exception.

At the time of writing, I am pleased to see Denmark still in the tournament. Everyone will remember Denmark’s first game in the Euros for many years to come and it is an important reminder that the health and welfare of our colleagues is extremely important. The next time you venture into the office take sure you take time out to find out where the nearest defibrillator is in your building as it may save a life one day.

Educating the used car market
Education is what several colleagues have been involved in during May and June as the team have spoken at various industry conferences and have been guests on customer webinars armed with the power of our INDICATA real time used car data insights


We have used those insight again to provide the very latest positioning on EVs in the used market across Europe. Fair to say they are still building their foundation at a time when car makers are in a hurry to speed up EV sales to reduce the fines currently being given by European Governments in our journey towards zero emissions by 2030.

Used car prices continue to rise
The manufacturer semiconductor new car shortage continues to play a part in creating increased demand for used cars and further stock shortages. Prices are rising and this may continue for some months to come.

This balance of supply exceeding demand is truly a global problem as our Mexico country manager Alfredo tells us. Everybody is having to get used to paying more for used cars with Mexico running closed online auctions for Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Stellantis and its franchised dealers.

His team are also looking to extend our online remarketing expertise into trucks and buses. Mexico has become more of an online economy overnight and now more goods than ever are being moved by road by commercial vehicles so used vehicles are in high demand, especially when they are being de-fleeted by the large corporates.

And as many of us are faced with local holidays in July and August we hope the weather is kind to you wherever you are. And do not forget to keep cheering Denmark on for as long as they are left in the Euros. Happy holidays.

Best regards
Peter Grøftehauge (LinkedIn)

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Like so many countries Mexico has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, and as of late June only 35% of the population of 130m had been vaccinated.

The first wave of pandemic in 2020 was the worst from the perspective of restricting people movement, but it sped up the country’s switch to buying more goods online. From groceries to used cars, transactions have more than tripled in the last 12 months.

At the heart of the online revolution
The Mexican market has always preferred face-to-face contact when buying and selling, particularly used cars, but it has taken a global pandemic to change this mindset and Autorola Mexico has been at the heart of this online used car revolution with its MarketPlace online platform.

“More car makers have been talking to us about online auctions. They have seen how online auctions can work when they are accompanied by good images and a detailed description of each car.

“Online is more of a trusted platform now in Mexico and during Covid-19 our operation remained open from the beginning of the pandemic as our business was set up to run online. Since the start of the pandemic, we are running more closed auctions on behalf of car makers than ever before to sell cars directly to their franchised dealers,” explained Alfredo, Autorola Mexico’s country manager.

A growing number of OEM contracts
Autorola has contracts with Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Stellantis to run closed auctions throughout the year. Its team of vehicle inspectors inspect the cars thoroughly prior to sale and grade them with five different levels of damage so buyers are clear whether they need repairing prior to sale or whether they are ready to retail.

Once the cars have been purchased online by dealers manages all the logistics to get the cars onsite as quickly as possible. The manufacturer helps fund the logistics to ensure dealers are not compromised by being further away from the used car storage centers. That has helped add further confidence within the dealer networks when buying used cars online.

Launching CV and bus auctions online
Hernandez has plans to start running online sales for commercial vehicles and buses for one major manufacturer. Autorola is set up ready to inspect and sell these vehicles online, albeit with a different damage framework to help dealers clearly understand the condition of each truck or bus prior to it being sold online.


“There is an all-year round demand for used commercial vehicles whatever the economic conditions as they are a working tool. Without commercial vehicles our supermarkets would have struggled to fill their shelves during the various lockdowns. The used market is 12 months a year and the used demand for ex-corporate fleet trucks are very high,” he said.

Demand exceeds supply in the used market
Mexico has been impacted by the shortage of semiconductors, like the rest of the global automotive industry. Fewer new cars are being sold which has meant a rise in demand for used cars. Prices have risen dramatically which has frustrated dealers and pleased vendors, a trend which Hernandez believes will go on for some months.

“No car maker knows how long the semiconductor shortage will continue and so used cars will continue to be in high demand and relatively low supply. It may be into 2022 before we see the market get back to normal,” he explained.

Leasing and rental companies
The rest of the Mexican market is made up of leasing companies and rental companies who continue to do their own thing from a vehicle remarketing perspective. Lease cars are offered to the employee to buy at the end of the contract which 95% of drivers take up.

Meanwhile, rental companies are setting up retail used car centers to sell their ex-hire cars directly to the consumer, although many suppliers have been hit hard by the new vehicle shortage and have resorted to buying used cars to satisfy the short-term rental demand from companies and consumers.

Opening used cars to a national buyer network
“We are in regular contact with the rental sector which has used cars that regularly fail to sell after 90+ days in stock. Rather than sell them to the local trader Autorola can upload them and sell them on its platform. That way it opens the used vehicle up to a country-wide market which will generate a higher price than selling to a local trader, or coyote as we like to call them.

“Autorola’s education and support of Mexico’s maturing used market continues and we are enjoying being an integral part of the digital revolution as it happens. Our proven online technology means we are well placed to work with many more car and commercial vehicle manufacturers,” said Alfredo.

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In May the best-selling used Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) at less than two years of age was the Renault Zoe, while the fastest-selling BEV was the Tesla 3. Meanwhile the fastest-selling used petrol/diesel car at the same age was the Opel/Vauxhall Corsa.

Diesel remained the fastest selling used car fuel type with a stock turn of 7.3x or 50 days in stock, with petrol close behind (7.2x) which shows the continued strength of demand in the market for the fuel despite European new car sales falling.

Sales rise as stock levels fall
Year-to-date to the end of May European used car sales were up by 24.5% over 2020 and 8.5% above 2019 reinforcing how buoyant the market is.
• Stock levels were 2.0% lower going into June compared to 2020 and 4.6% lower than May
• Spanish dealers saw stock levels rise from May to June by 2.4%.
• Portugal and Poland reported falls of 10.3% and 9.4% respectively.

There remains a particular shortage of cars around one-year-old due to the much lower than usual used cars coming from the daily rental and dealer demonstrator programmes because of the reduced 2020 registrations. Despite a rise in tactical registrations by manufacturers – up 21% versus April – shortages in this sector look set to remain for the rest of 2021.

Global semiconductor shortage
The shortage in used car supply could be further compounded by the global semiconductor shortage as new car production is dramatically reduced. This could mean fleets having to hang on to the current cars for longer.

The UK saw another month of super rates of growth in May (+224.2% YoY) as its late lockdown during the first wave of the pandemic meant used car sales were down dramatically in March, April, and May 2020. This strong demand against a background of reducing supply pushed up prices by 7.5% during May.

An exciting second half of 2021 ahead
“The used car market is pretty much back to where it was two years ago. However, with the added challenge of restricted new car supply some countries are going to remain short of stock for some time. Our insights show prices have been steadily climbing, particularly in the UK and this will continue if demand continues to exceed supply. The scene is set for an exciting second half of the year,” said Andy Shields, INDICATA’s global business unit director.

To download a full copy of the 13-country 20-page report go to www.indicata.com/corona

Click here to go back to the June news

May used car sales across Europe of BEVs have risen 236% and hybrids by 201% when compared with May 2020 while diesel and petrol have increased by 32% and 36% respectively.

Speed of sale does not match sales
There is no doubt that slowly the used car agenda is starting to turn to low or zero emission used cars, albeit volumes are still very small. However, it is only when you examine the stock turn statistics that make it clear that the speed of sale of BEVs does not match the sales growth.

In May, the stock turn of BEVs was just 4.0x, while hybrids were 5.4x which compares with 7.2x for petrol. By far the most consistent fastest-selling used car for the past couple of years has been diesel, in May alone its stock turn was 7.3x, which is 82.5% faster than the average time for BEVs.

OEMs have an incentive to oversupply the market
When you look across Europe there is a major incentive for OEMs to oversupply the market as each BEV sold new reduces their Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) fines. In 2020 alone it saved OEMs 26,000 Euros per new BEV sold.

This major oversupply is quickly cascading vehicles into the used market although at a pace which is much faster than consumer demand to buy a used BEV. The used BEV market is still at a relatively early stage across all European countries where they are establishing themselves alongside Internal Combustion Engines.

Used BEV prices are high
Used prices of BEVs are one of the major elements which are still holding consumer acceptance back – the majority of BEVs are relatively expensive to buy new and when they enter the used market their price point is much higher than an equivalent petrol or diesel used car.

Consumers are still coming to terms with this issue as well as some reservation about battery life and pre-usage and the quality and spread of the public charging infrastructure.

All these factors are putting price pressures on used BEVs and until such time as prices start to soften then BEV stocking times are likely to remain behind traditional used petrol and diesel cars.

Click here to go back to the June news