Higher transaction prices are “just taking some people out of the market,” Penske said.
In the U.S., vehicles that once sold at CarShop’s preferred price point of $20,000 became more costly to acquire, meaning their price tags had to move to $30,000 territory, Penske said. It considered lower-value vehicles — those between $8,000 and $12,000 — but decided those are wholesale vehicles, not ones to retail.
Sonic President Jeff Dyke said late last month that the retailer is seeing demand for vehicles up to 8 years old. It started to include such older vehicles in EchoPark’s inventory earlier this year after having difficulty securing 1- to 4-year-old vehicles.
Demand now has dropped for “a $640 monthly payment for pre-owned, and that’s what you’re getting when you’re selling a 1- to 4-year-old car right now,” Dyke said.
Read Article