What's going to happen to the car market?

Soldato
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Tesla have three things:

- big sold order bank, with a long back-log
- the cars on the boats that arrived in March still being handed-over
- a contact-free handover process

No other manufacturers have anything like this combination of factors. :)
 
OcUK Staff
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Rumour is car dealerships could be reopening as early as Monday based on governments easing of lockdown decision by end of this week and along with DVLA Solo test drives they are gearing to reopen and expecting huge demand in business.

Let us see guess if there is a mad rush this month then there won’t be any deals and the deals people want probably won’t come until later in the year or next when the fall out hits the economy and it crashes, that is if it ever happens at all, who knows the economy may pull through this, slim chance but would certainly be the outcome we would all rather have then saving a grand or two in the short term on a car.
 
Soldato
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I think it's inevitable that there will enough of a economic downturn that the automotive sector is going to be up against it. The number of job losses alone are going to have a sizeable impact.
 
OcUK Staff
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I think it's inevitable that there will enough of a economic downturn that the automotive sector is going to be up against it. The number of job losses alone are going to have a sizeable impact.

True but market will be interesting as all the money normally spent on holidays, eating out, hotel visits just won’t be happening this year and that money is being spent elsewhere like computers, DIY, home fitness, gardening all areas showing massive growth in past couple of months due to lockdown and when lockdown eases people will continue spending in said areas and potentially cars too with the funds they have spare from not taking holidays as a family holiday can cost anywhere 5-20k typically that money is now gonna go elsewhere or savings.

Im not saying car market won’t be up against it but I think when dealerships reopen they are gonna be extremely busy selling cars as lockdown eases.
 
Soldato
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Very little change in the used car market. The inherent value of used cars hasn’t dropped. Some dealers will struggle and some will go under which may mean cheap cars to release cash but there’s not going to be a huge change.

Volumes are down because everywhere is shut. It’s not indicative of a seismic change in customer behaviour re new cars.

I suspect there’ll be a big increase in short term used car sales. Plus we will see a further increase of dealers selling via online sales.
 
Associate
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Very little change in the used car market. The inherent value of used cars hasn’t dropped. Some dealers will struggle and some will go under which may mean cheap cars to release cash but there’s not going to be a huge change.

Volumes are down because everywhere is shut. It’s not indicative of a seismic change in customer behaviour re new cars.

I suspect there’ll be a big increase in short term used car sales. Plus we will see a further increase of dealers selling via online sales.
but isn't it way way too early to see any dramatic change in the used market? As people have posted here (and other places), the financial impact is likely to be down the line, after the lockdown - when the country will likely be in recession, probably towards the back end of the year. September's plate change might trigger crazy deals on new cars to shift stock, which in turn could ripple to a used price drop?
 
Soldato
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but isn't it way way too early to see any dramatic change in the used market? As people have posted here (and other places), the financial impact is likely to be down the line, after the lockdown - when the country will likely be in recession, probably towards the back end of the year. September's plate change might trigger crazy deals on new cars to shift stock, which in turn could ripple to a used price drop?

This. There's nearly 6 million currently on furlough, another 2 million unemployed on top of that. I think it's fair to assume a not insignificant amount of those on furloughed will be unemployed within 1-3 months, could be as high as 50%. Even the most optimistic projections have this as twice as bad as 2008. Asset values will fall when people default which has a propagation delay.
 
Associate
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This. There's nearly 6 million currently on furlough, another 2 million unemployed on top of that. I think it's fair to assume a not insignificant amount of those on furloughed will be unemployed within 1-3 months, could be as high as 50%. Even the most optimistic projections have this as twice as bad as 2008. Asset values will fall when people default which has a propagation delay.
Time will tell, it certainly won’t be noticed straight away. Will be interesting to see how the manufacturers get on in the next 3 months. I will be in the thick of it, as I am engineer working for a automotive manufacturer. I see a few of the smaller ones struggling. I give it 3 to 6 months to see how the manufacturer react and if they can survive. New car sales will slumps in 6-9 months and that will have a knock on effect to the used market in 6-12 months. I am certainly concerned considering I work in this industry, as well many others.
 
Soldato
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Tesla have three things:

- big sold order bank, with a long back-log
- the cars on the boats that arrived in March still being handed-over
- a contact-free handover process

No other manufacturers have anything like this combination of factors. :)
Just to add to this, how much shall we bet on another scrappage scheme? Only this time the next vehicle must be BEV?

......strokes TSLA shares lovingly.
 
Associate
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Time will tell, it certainly won’t be noticed straight away. Will be interesting to see how the manufacturers get on in the next 3 months. I will be in the thick of it, as I am engineer working for a automotive manufacturer. I see a few of the smaller ones struggling. I give it 3 to 6 months to see how the manufacturer react and if they can survive. New car sales will slumps in 6-9 months and that will have a knock on effect to the used market in 6-12 months. I am certainly concerned considering I work in this industry, as well many others.
add to any surplus stock already in the pipeline. I'm sure there's a few new models/facelifts being launched this September and they will already be either being built or at least have all the stock ordered and made - assuming sales figures based on last year... So, there's going to be a LOT of stock (either in full cars, or just bits) that will need to be sold (possibly at a reduced price) to prevent it being a financial millstone...

It won't just be automotive manufacturing tho... I'm a design engineer for a company that makes components generally used within the casino and pub trade - we can't just return after furlough and expect instant sales, we're going to need our customers to return, get themselves settled and in order before they can start placing orders with us, it's all a knock-on effect... And that's before any comments from last week (or so) about pubs possibly only re-opening in the winter... At least with global sales/markets we're not reliant on the UK trade - but I'm pretty sure we will not be returning from furlough to our previous hours/pay - personally 1/2 expecting to be asked to return to a 3 day week (for ~3 months) to keep our jobs. So, after dropping down to 80% salary (or even less with the cap) and then possibly dropping to 60%.... It just means less $ when we're entering a recession, great... Now, if other companies do similar gradual/phased employment after lockdown then it can only have a knock on effect to all manor of markets (housing, car, food, etc.)
 
Soldato
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True but market will be interesting as all the money normally spent on holidays, eating out, hotel visits just won’t be happening this year and that money is being spent elsewhere like computers, DIY, home fitness, gardening all areas showing massive growth in past couple of months due to lockdown and when lockdown eases people will continue spending in said areas and potentially cars too with the funds they have spare from not taking holidays as a family holiday can cost anywhere 5-20k typically that money is now gonna go elsewhere or savings.

Im not saying car market won’t be up against it but I think when dealerships reopen they are gonna be extremely busy selling cars as lockdown eases.

Not sure about that mate, in the real world people are worried about their jobs.
 
Soldato
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7th Level of Hell...
Regarding the comments about surplus new car stock... A lot of manufacturers stopped making cars from around end of March and didn't start again until a few days or so ago so there is no more of a glut than normal... At least for now.

The vehicles being built just now are either sold orders or already ordered stock which had been planned around Feb time

I know 1 manufacturer that has stopped this normal stock ordering until June when they will start again.

All of this means the glut of cars isn't going to be as severe as people think.
 
Soldato
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3,098
Rumour is car dealerships could be reopening as early as Monday based on governments easing of lockdown decision by end of this week and along with DVLA Solo test drives they are gearing to reopen and expecting huge demand in business.

Let us see guess if there is a mad rush this month then there won’t be any deals and the deals people want probably won’t come until later in the year or next when the fall out hits the economy and it crashes, that is if it ever happens at all, who knows the economy may pull through this, slim chance but would certainly be the outcome we would all rather have then saving a grand or two in the short term on a car.

Does the rumour start at a reliable source? My car was due to be delivered on the same Friday the week lockdown but delivery was then cancelled by Tuesday. I haven't heard anything about it being re-arranged just yet.
 
Commissario
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Friend of a friend works for a Lexus dealership, they may be going back soon but will be "paired" up with another sales rep and work via a shift rota. There will be lots of PPE for staff and screens being installed, also they've been told test drives won't be offered initially.
 
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