Demand dips for used vehicles

Demand for new and used vehicles fell in May as overall consumer enquiries declined by 23%.

This is according to lead management experts at iTrackLEADS, which also found that dealers became more efficient compared to the same month last year as the number of lost sales fell by 40%.

In addition, test drives fell by 21%, while overall sales of new and used vehicles dropped by 14%.

Adrian Favill, director of iTrackLEADS, said: “While it’s clear that ongoing supply issues of new and used vehicles continue to impact the nation’s dealers, it is good to see the number of lost sales is declining. Dealers are reengineering the sales process to drive efficiency and maximise the value of every lead, which is critical when the industry is facing challenges.

“There is no visibility of the end of the supply issues, so every dealer must take action to manage their enquiries as efficiently as possible. Creating a detailed customer view is vital in managing the more complex sales process.”

Overall response times to enquiries improved by 24%, with the fastest dealers responding to leads within 37 minutes against an industry average of 40 minutes.