Anywhere the Brexit blows, the used car business will shake and shudder
Or won't it? It all depends on whom you ask. Some experts believe used car prices should not be impacted by any Brexit eventuality, due to the fact that used cars are all paid-for stock. They do not need to be imported from the EU. The same experts encourage people to buy British to protect their pockets and avoid extra costs further down the line in the shape of components that need to come from mainland Europe, for instance.
Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that. Many of these components come from continental Europe in any case. Furthermore, British motorists seem to shun cars built domestically. Less than 9% of cars sold in the UK are British-built. In fact, 4 in 5 cars built in Britain are exported, mostly to the EU.
With a no-deal Brexit, tariffs could add 5 billion GBP to the UK-EU trade bill, unquestionably impacting prices of new cars. It stands to reason that if new cars become dearer, people will turn to nearly new cars, the supply of which is likely to be outstripped by demand and therefore cause a price hike.
And that’s not the whole picture - not by far. The Irish market has been absorbing loads of British imports due to the interesting GBP-EUR exchange rate, for instance. How will this evolve after Brexit? What else is at play?
To find answers to these questions and to deep-dive in the different scenarios, there is only one event you should attend: the Fleet Europe Remarketing Forum in Estoril, Portugal on November 6, 2019. Christoph Louvard, CEO Autobiz will shed his light on the matter and interact with the audience, consisting of used car traders, remarketing service providers, OEMs, leasing and rental companies, dealer groups and consultancies.
Christophe Louvard started Autobiz with his partner Daniel Urbah in 2004. Since then, Autobiz has become a key player in automotive Big Data and a strategic partner to manufacturers, dealer groups and infomediaries.
