Insight

Glass’s One Minute Market Update – May 2021

Jayson Whittington | 16 Jun 2021

About the author

Jayson Whittington

Chief Car Editor

Jayson joined Glass’s in March 2014 as Leisure Vehicle Editor before being quickly promoted to Leisure & Commercial Vehicle Valuation Manager. He's more recently taken on the role of Chief Car Editor. Jayson has worked in the motor industry for over 20 years across numerous sectors for a manufacturer, a dealer group, an auction house and used car supermarket. Jayson is a contributing author for Autovista24.

London city in day

With dealerships open again for two months following Lockdown-3, new car activity appears to be strengthening. Year-to-date registration volume now sits 42.5% ahead of last year according to data published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Of course, April and May 2020 only produced around 24,500 registrations in total, so it is no great surprise to see such an uplift. Compared to this point in 2019 the market is down by almost 31%, so business has definitely not returned to normal yet.

Some of the shortfall will be due to the time it takes between ordering and delivery, for those consumers who waited to benefit from a physical sales process. Due to this time lag, potentially only a small proportion of cars ordered just after lockdown easing will have been delivered, although stock availability will also be having an effect. As we look ahead to quarter three of 2021, Glass’s expects stock supply issues to intensify, with the widely reported shortage of semiconductors adding to COVID-19 related delays and complications. 

Auction hammer prices were strong throughout May but have strengthened further in June. This will likely lead to unprecedented rises in residual values as Glass’s reflects the spike in wholesale activity. In May the volume of cars that sold on the first time of asking at auction was 85.3%, which is the highest first-time conversion rate since July last year, which was at the height of the bounce-back that followed the end of Lockdown-1.

The strength in the UK wholesale market is underpinned by strong and consistent retail demand. Ordinarily, demand begins to slow in the summer months as consumers focus switches towards holidays. However, May and June’s exceptional activity shows little sign of slowing and could intensify as consumers reflect on the prospect of no overseas holidays this summer, with some choosing to use unexpected disposable income to change their car, which will be welcomed by both new and used car dealers.  

You might also be interested in

Glass’s One Minute Market Update – April 2021

13 May 2021

New car registrations in April were unsurprisingly up on last year with just over 141,500 cars registered, according to data published by the Society of...

Glass’s One Minute Market Update

14 Apr 2021

New car registrations increased by 11.5% in March according to figures released by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).  Sales to private individuals...

New Car Market Update April 2021

13 May 2021

April’s new car market showed some recovery as the government eased lockdown rules to allow showrooms to reopen their doors during the month. Drawing comparisons...

Yes, sign me up to Autovista24

* Mandatory


Sign up to receive the following email:
Autovista24: Essential automotive reading, data and intelligence – a daily update from the new Autovista24 website sent daily by Autovista Ltd, in English

We use pixels in our emails to monitor whenever you open, forward or click on the URLs in our emails. This helps us to monitor and measure the performance and effectiveness of our emails. We combine this with the information you provide above and your browsing information so that we can better tailor and improve our marketing to you and personalise your user experience on our website. By signing up, you are consenting to the use of your data for the purpose of sending you the selected emails and to the use of tracking pixels. You can withdraw your consent to receive our emails and the related tracking at any time by following this link to our Email Preference Centre and updating your preferences. For additional information on the processing of your personal data, please refer to the Autovista Group Privacy Policy and the Glass's Privacy Policy.