The sale of used vehicles in the United States rose by more than 25 percent in July, partly owing to a resumption of activities following a cyberattack in June that widely affected car dealership operations, according to auto services provider Cox Automotive.
A total of 1.6 million used vehicles were sold by retailers, up by 16.5 percent from a year back.
“As anticipated, we are continuing to see the impacts of the sales and inventory reporting disruptions due to the CDK outage,” said Scott Vanner, senior analyst of Economic and Industry Insights at Cox Automotive.
According to Cox, cyberattack disruptions resulted in inflating the “day’s supply” level of inventory and lowering sales.
Day’s supply refers to how long the current inventory on hand will last at the ongoing pace of sales. Disruptions in operations and the resulting lower sales mean more inventory on hand. Day’s supply for June was 53 days, which declined to 41 in July.
The “noticeable increase” in used vehicle sales last month likely signals “a healthy used-vehicle retail market plus some recovery of lost sales from June,” according to Vanner.
Jonathan Smoke, chief economist at Cox Automotive, suggested that the decline in used-vehicle prices “may be nearing its floor, which should help stabilize the market through the summer months and rebound in the back half of the year.”
Interest Rate Effect
Even though used-car prices have declined, high interest rates make the cost of buying them expensive for many buyers.For used cars to become cheaper and more attractive, interest rates on auto loans have to come down. For this, the Federal Reserve has to bring down its benchmark interest rates that have remained elevated for too long. Auto lenders usually set their loan rates taking into consideration the federal fund rates.
Supply levels of new vehicles are continuing to increase, keeping prices in this segment steady. In contrast, prices of used cars have fallen, with the segment facing a shortage, mainly of low-mileage, lightly used vehicles.
Used vehicles priced below $20,000 can average 93,000 odometer miles, up by 33 percent in the past five years.
“These high-mileage vehicles may require significant service to remain roadworthy,” the report reads.
“The shortage of low-mileage, lightly used inventory is especially noticeable in the higher-end used-vehicle market. For the over-$50,000 used segment, the average price is $77,000, which is more than the average cost of a new luxury vehicle.”