Aston Barclay Sale Shows Clear Division Of Used Convertible Market

LONDON – March 19, 2010: Aston Barclay ran what it believes was the UK’s first convertible sale of 2010 on the 4th of March with a 100% sales conversion rate on 72 cars.

The same cars sold successfully by Aston Barclay on the 4th March were offered at auction during December and struggled to generate a bid or meet reserve prices.

What the sale reinforced was how the used market is divided as to the best time for vendors to sell a used traditional soft top compared with the new breed of hard top Coupe Convertibles (CC).

“Consumers don’t seem to have a strong appetite to buy traditional soft tops through the winter months and so dealers are reluctant to take the risk and invest their money in vehicles they may have to stock until the spring,” explained Barry Watts, Aston Barclay’s operations director.

“Vendors have to make the decision to keep soft tops parked up until the Spring ready for the market to warm up. When it comes to CCs, consumers have come to accept the cars aren’t season specific and so will consider buying a used model even in the winter. This enables a vendor to prepare the car and turn their asset into cash quickly,” he added.

Aston Barclay has seen a shortage of convertibles entering the used market and it believes now is the time to get cars into the market to maximise values.

Westbury’s new Thursday fleet sale was launched on the back of new business wins with Lex Autolease and LeasePlan. LeasePlan appointed Aston Barclay as a remarketing partner at its Westbury, Prees Heath and Chelmsford sites earlier in January and is selling around 200 vehicles a week.

Additional volumes from Lex Autolease will see a total of 8-10,000 used fleet cars going through the group over the next 12 months.

“Aston Barclay is continuing to grow its fleet business, winning new customers and proving a strong competitor to the two international auction groups that control the market. The LeasePlan contract means we are working with the majority of the top 20 leasing players,” explained Watts.