Light commercials sold at auction have hit new highs for three months in a row, according to BCA. The firm said that in April the average value of LCVs sold reached £7,522 – a month-on-month increase of £108, or 1.4%, and a year-on-year increase of £1,141, or 17.7%, with both the mileage and age of vehicles sold falling compared with a year ago.
The firm said the Easter break had a minimal impact on trading levels and post-Easter values rose, where they had typically fallen in previous years.
BCA’s COO for UK remarketing, Stuart Pearson, said: “Demand for good quality LCV stock is currently outstripping supply across the BCA network, particularly for vehicles in ready-to-retail condition, where there is intense competition amongst buyers, whether they buy physically in-lane or digitally via BCA Live Online.
“Unsurprisingly, the corporate sector continues to enjoy high levels of demand as professional buyers compete strongly for one-owner vans to meet the needs of their retail customers and BCA’s expanded nationwide LCV sales programme is presenting buyers with a greater choice of vehicles.
“The Easter holiday period this year had little effect on attendance or buying activity and conversion levels were strong throughout April.”
BCA said fleet and lease LCV values continued to rise and reached record levels for the second month running, with month-on-month values up by £195, or 2.3%, to reach £8,486.
The year-on-year rise for fleet and lease vans was £1,395, or 19.6%, one of the largest on record, helped by average age falling by a month and average mileage falling by over 5,000 miles.
Average part-exchange values fell month-on-month by £30, or 0.7%, in April to £4,428, although BCA said values in this sector have been relatively stable for much of this year.
Year-on-year there was an increase of £369, or 9%, with comparative age and mileage rising over the period.
Nearly-new values rose to £16,148, the third consecutive monthly rise.