(Bloomberg) —
Used-car sellers are enjoying a boom in demand in the U.K. as the pandemic puts a squeeze on the supply of chips for new vehicles.
Average prices were up 30% in September compared with a year ago, according to Motorway, a London-based start-up that connects consumers with dealerships. A top performer was the Aston Martin Vanquish, which jumped 37% from the third quarter of last year to a price of 84,000 pounds ($114,500).
Soaring appetite for used vehicles underscores how supply-chain shortages of key components such as chips are changing consumer habits across the world amid the Covid-19 crisis. And that’s providing a windfall to individuals offloading old cars. Prices globally rose 19% on an annual basis through August, according to the Atlanta, Georgia-based Manheim U.S. Used Vehicle Value Index compiled by Cox Automotive Inc.
“There are very few new cars being made and delivered, so there’s a huge problem with new-car stock and that’s driving tons of demand into the used-car space,” said Motorway Chief Executive Officer Tom Leathes. “The chip shortage is here for a while.”
Motorway, which runs daily auctions and sells more than 8,000 cars a month, said it clocked up 306 million pounds in sales in the third quarter this year, a more than 300% increase from the same period in 2020. It expects annual sales on its platform to top $2 billion over the coming year.
Alongside the Aston Martin Vanquish, top sellers included the Vauxhall Agila and Ford Focus, ahead of the Volkswagen Eos, according to Motorway. Tesla’s Model S trailed behind several other models, rising 14% over the past year.
More than 3,000 dealers use Motorway’s platform, on which over 100,000 used cars have been sold since its launch in 2017, according to the company.
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