Manheim Australia passenger and light commercial auction sales grew 40% year-to-date compared to the same January to April period in 2023, as the wholesale market edges towards pre-COVID volumes.
April volume also spiked by 85.2% over the corresponding month last year, placing it in the top three sales months since 2020.
Meanwhile, average wholesale transaction prices at Manheim’s physical and online auctions have stabilised and even trended slightly up, having fallen consistently across 2023 from COVID-era highs.
The Manheim Price Index ended April at 142, denoting an average 42% wholesale price increase per vehicle since the baseline of December 2019, including inflation. This has increased by 3.0% since the start of 2024.
Average auction sales prices are still more than 15% lower now than at the market’s peak of 167.1 in mid-2022, when vehicle shortages drove wholesale prices to all-time highs.
Under the bonnet:
This year, significant sources of vehicles sold across Manheim physical and digital public auctions are fleet management companies, government and private sector fleets, and dealerships on-selling trade-ins.
Manheim is also expanding the scope and scale of its closed, dealer-only auctions, which sell low-kilometre ex-company vehicles. It works with around half of Australia’s car brands and has recently signed new partners, including Chery Motor.
In terms of segment make-up, SUVs had a 34.5% share of wholesale volumes to the end of April YTD, traditional passenger vehicles (sedans, hatchbacks, wagons, people-movers, two-doors) owned a 33.1% share, and light commercials 32.3%.
EVs and PHEVs had a 0.1% wholesale volume market share, which is unsurprising given that the vast majority of EVs sold so far remain with their first owner – fleet or private.
This figure will change quickly from 2025 onwards.
The overall top-selling auctioned vehicles YTD are the Ford Ranger (+19.9%), Isuzu D-Max (+79.5%), Toyota Camry (+49.3%), Toyota Corolla (+74.4%), and Mitsubishi Triton (+48.8%). While overall prices are 42% higher than in December 2019 across the broader Manheim wholesale market, there are significant discrepancies in sale prices depending on vehicle type and age.
Passenger vehicles hold inflated prices longer than SUVs and light commercials, mainly due to a lack of supply driven by their declining share of the new vehicle market – which invariably knocks onto the second-hand market.
Older vehicles are retaining higher price indexes than younger models, which reflects consumer demand for older and more affordable transport considering current household budget pressures such as higher interest rates and persistent inflation.
“We have seen an uptick in volume at Manheim wholesale auctions in 2024, with increasing foot traffic to our east coast physical auctions and strong performances from our OEM and clearance vehicles in particular,” said Manheim Australia managing director Murray Naismith.
“While we have made some positive strides this year with good results and new initiatives, we continue to focus on excellence across all aspects of our business to maximise vendor returns and create a fun, safe and friendly environment for our valued customers.”
Top-selling vehicles at Manheim auctions YTD:
1. Ford Ranger: Up 19.9% YoY
2. Isuzu D-Max: Up 79.5% YoY
3. Toyota Camry: Up 49.3% YoY
4. Toyota Corolla: Up 74.4% YoY
5. Mitsubishi Triton: Up 49.3% YoY
