NAMA announces 2018 was best year on record for Motor Auctions

The National Association of Motor Auctions announces encouraging results and outlook for 2019.

The National Association of Motor Auctions (NAMA) has announced encouraging news as it reflects on the performance of auctions in 2018 with activity achieving unprecedented results, as both first time conversion rates and average values were up.

NAMA found that conversion rates were extremely strong and month on month last year consistently outperformed the previous two years in this key selling metric.

James Tomlinson, Chairman of The National Association of Motor Auctions (NAMA) said, “The overall used car market reached record highs in 2018, despite pressures in the new car market with the introduction of the Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP) in September.

“The market was incredibly consistent throughout the whole of 2018. NAMA is optimistic that demand and prices in the used car market will remain stable and 2019 will mark another successful year for the auction sector,” Tomlinson continued.

Whilst used petrol values were the strongest performers, used diesel also continued to sell well, demonstrating that diesel still has a firm place in the used car market.  Recent reports are beginning to suggest that there could be a shortage of diesel product in the used car market in the near future.

It was also positive to see that used electric vehicles are being more widely accepted, however with increasing demand, supply could be an issue.

Sales attendance at auctions remained high throughout the year, with professional buyers bidding competitively across all market sectors, both at auction and online.

The findings by NAMA is welcome news to Wilsons Auctions, who hosted the associations last quarterly executive council meeting at Wilsons Auctions in Telford back in October and reflects its growth over the past number of years which has seen a strong increase in sales across its car departments and continues to attract new vendors across its branches.

Wilsons Auctions continues to benefit from a solid footfall to its physical auctions throughout its sites but is also growing its customer base as a result of its online bidding facility, LiveBid, allowing customers to purchase from any of our sites at their own convenience.

Encouraged with the positive outlook predicted by NAMA for 2019, Wilsons Auctions is confident its performance over the next 12 months will reflect this.

A member of NAMA, Wilsons Auctions was established in 1936 and has grown to become the largest independently owned auction house in the UK and Ireland, hosting over 2,000 auctions each year it has an annual hammer total in excess of £300 million.