Johannesburg - Good news for motorists facing record fuel
price hikes is that the TransUnion third quarter Vehicle Pricing Index
indicates that price increases in both new and used vehicles are slowing‚
TransUnion said in a statement on Monday.
New and used car inflation slowed to its lowest level this
year‚ touching 2.3% and 2.1% respectively‚ according to the TransUnion’s third
quarter Vehicle Pricing Index (VPI).
Published quarterly by vehicle risk intelligence company‚
TransUnion Auto Information Solutions‚ the VPI measures the year-on-year price
inflation of a market weighted basket of new and used vehicles.
“Both the new and used markets remain relatively strong with
the used market having experienced positive growth of 4.1% for the quarter.
According to Naamsa‚ new passenger sales increased by 12.5% year on year in
August‚ and we expect this double digit trend to continue for the remainder of
this year‚” said Mike von Höne‚ CEO of TransUnion Auto.
The lower growth in the used market has led to a further
narrowing of the sales ratio between new and used cars‚ TransUnion said.
Analysis of TransUnion's vehicle financial registration data
reveals that the ratio of new to used vehicles financed is now 1.63 used cars
for every new car financed in August‚ down from 1.88 in May.
“Interestingly‚ around 80% of all new and used cars financed
are priced at less than R200 000. When one considers that only 15.5% of all new
cars fall within this price bracket and 66.5% cost more than R300 000‚ it is
clear that consumers remain extremely price sensitive‚” Von Höne said.
“This appears to be impacting on dealers. In a market that
remains exceptionally competitive‚ dealers are buying and retailing further
behind the TransUnion Auto Dealers’ Guide values.”
TransUnion dealer return information indicates that the premium and budget used sectors are experiencing the most pressure - the premium market because of the narrowing price gap between new and used cars while the budget sector is being driven by high levels of competition between dealers‚ brands and marques‚ TransUnion said.
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