Weekly car sales tumble

The number of car sales across the country last week came in at 2,512 and was less than half the usual weekly average of about 5,500, according to the latest figures from Apexdealerdata.com.

The online platform shows the best-performing used car business managed 23 sales last week and the top franchise dealer sold 16 units. The average number of sales per dealer was seven.

Out of those sales, 25 per cent were underpriced and took an average of 72 days to sell, and 39 per cent were priced on-market and took 53 days to sell on average.

For those categorised by the AI-driven decision engine as higher than what the market is paying, the numbers were 36 per cent and 71 days.

Matt Grant, chief executive of Apexdealerdata.com, says the proportion of underpriced deals highlights the potential for lost margin and increased overheads.

He explains a manager of a large used dealer group last week listed a 2019 Toyota RAV4 that had 40,000km on the clock for $42,995 and it sold in four hours.

“They couldn't understand why it sold so quick,” adds Grant. “The reason why is another car dealer bought it because our data shows it’s a $50,000-plus car and sells in under 25 days at that type of price.

“Data is key to not making these kinds of mistakes as three to four of those a month on either a trade or a sale adds up.”

The Apexdealerdata.com market report appears every Monday on Autofile Online.

For more details, visit www.apexdealerdata.com.