COVID19 Bargain New Vehicles?????

[adsvx220]

Before all this COVID19 business started I was starting my search for a new work van as I'm upgrading to a crew van type van. As we all know all the dealerships have closed there doors due to the COVID19 restrictions. This has got me thinking, will there be a massive push to sell new vans and cars at lower prices with great finance deals.

My thinking is that there will be loads of MY2020 cars and vans sitting in forecourts and storage compounds ready to be sold. Obviously we don't know when this situation will get back to normal and we are edging ever closer to the new 70 plate reg in September. Do we recon that dealerships will be pushing to sell old stock in readiness for new registrations?? Could we see big discounts and 0% finance offers??

Anyone in the know that could give us inside knowledge???

[kambites]

There may be lots of unregistered cars, but there's also lots of closed car factories. I don't think there's suddenly going to be massive over-supply of unregistered cars when the lockdown ends.

[legless]

kambites said:

There may be lots of unregistered cars, but there's also lots of closed car factories. I don't think there's suddenly going to be massive over-supply of unregistered cars when the lockdown ends.

Exactly. The current supply of unregistered vehicles in the country is no different (in fact it's possibly slightly worse) to normal.

Very few are being sold, but at the same time virtually no cars are being built.

The only thing that might start to cause an oversupply situation is if the factories are able to restart production before the dealers can open again. It's unlikely that any manufacturer would do this though as they'd be tying capital up in unsellable (at the moment) assets.

[paradigital]

There is another angle to consider however, that of cash-flow. Most dealers are franchises rather than manufacturer-owned, and as such the smaller franchises may be starting to feel the pinch of a lack of income. You may find that discounts are pushed in order to generate income quicker in what will inevitably be a recession following the lockdown cessation.

[Weezywee]

The other element is manufacturers will have been closed, so their bottom line will be struggling from 3 months of no production. Material prices have collapsed, so theres an incentive to bulk buy and start churning significant volume. Manufacturers have also seen volume collapse in certain markets like China. It is dependent on manufacturer though, since JLR seem to see volume reduction as a way to cut production and staff rather than reducing prices and driving more market share. Pretty baffling from my POV - cant protect a brand if you dont HAVE a brand.

[bristolracer]

If it's a van you need does it have to be new?
There may be a surplus of ex lease stuff at the end of this.
There may also be quite a few distress sales and repossessions about.
I can't see many if those artisan coffee/cafe companies surviving and still running their very expensive T5s that they are fond of.

[growlerowl]

bristolracer said:

I can't see many if those artisan coffee/cafe companies surviving and still running their very expensive T5s that they are fond of.

I fancy a camper

[Benrad]

legless said:

Exactly. The current supply of unregistered vehicles in the country is no different (in fact it's possibly slightly worse) to normal.

Very few are being sold, but at the same time virtually no cars are being built.

The only thing that might start to cause an oversupply situation is if the factories are able to restart production before the dealers can open again. It's unlikely that any manufacturer would do this though as they'd be tying capital up in unsellable (at the moment) assets.

I would've thought the factories could run now with some small changes to processes to allow social distancing. If they're closed it's likely due to weak demand rather than lock-down. I guess it depends on country and the local lock-down rules though