Dealer resistance to electrification of the used car market looks to have fallen over the last six months.
That’s a key finding in the December Startline Used Car Tracker, which showed that when asked which factors are the biggest threats to the sector, the percentage of dealers mentioning electric vehicles (EVs) has fallen from 69% to 54%.
Also, those who say that the volatility of EV values is an issue has decreased from 40% to 27%, while those who believe the extent of the recharging infrastructure is a problem has dropped from 52% to 42%
Paul Burgess, CEO at Startline Motor Finance, said: “Electrification already represented a massive challenge for used car dealers even before the roller coaster ride we’ve seen in EV values over the last couple of years.
“As a result, there has been widespread scepticism about the viability of the switch to electric cars.
“However, our research suggests that feeling may be softening. The truth is that more and more people working in the used car sector are buying and selling EVs regularly, becoming accustomed to their pros and cons, and starting to see them as just an ordinary part of their stock mix.
“We are at a stage where increasing numbers of used EVs are about to enter the market, having been defleeted by major operators, and this should lead to a further acceleration of this process. Quite soon, retailing EVs will be unavoidable for the vast majority of used car dealers.”
The Startline Used Car Tracker is compiled monthly for Startline Motor Finance by APD Global Research, well-known in the motor industry for their business intelligence reporting and customer experience programs. This time, 303 consumers and 59 dealers were questioned.
