Most people don\’t think about the best time to sell their vehicle, much less plan for replacing it. They may not think of certain cars having a seasonal purpose or that they may need to be sold at a specific time of the year to maximize both demand and the selling price.
Seasonality
Vehicles like convertibles and Jeeps are most susceptible to shifts in value and demand based on seasonality. A convertible, as expected, would be most popular in the spring and summer, along with Jeep\’s. In contrast, a four-wheel-drive truck may be most-usable to get through the climatic weather in the winter while providing the ability to tow and haul even when the weather is perfect. So the versatility of use is more remarkable for most consumers than other vehicles are. Therefore, the demand and prices remain strong.
Every vehicle experiences either a positive or negative impact when fundamental essentials to owning a vehicle increase accordingly, even a versatile SUV or truck. An example may be the change in gas prices causing that vehicle to be less affordable to commute in.
You may remember around the great recession that gas prices surged, causing inventories to skyrocket of SUVs and trucks, which caused lower turnover and sales prices. Then, this caused demand for alternatives like fuel-efficient small cars to increase, inventories to drop, and prices to surge. At the time, long waitlists for vehicles like the Prius\’ were common.
Supply and Demand
Similarly, this is the typical supply and demand we now see post-2020. At the same time, supply chain systems broke due to the unavailability of regular production hours, raw materials, and labor. As demand temporarily dropped and labor perpetually caused impacts on the ability to produce essential components, vehicle production slowed down. One of the most-recent crises has been around chip shortages from a technology standpoint and resins used in many interior and exterior parts, causing a near standstill in the production of certain vehicles.
The ability to have a consistent flow of materials and components to build a vehicle has become more and more difficult for manufacturers. The auto supply chain utilizes just-in-time manufacturing, or JIT, pulling parts from various suppliers at the time of need, which is now being reconsidered due to the impact of the last year. The Wall Street Journal recently published an article titled, \”Auto Makers Retreat from 50 Years of \”Just in Time\” Manufacturing\”. The article outlines this phenomenon of manufacturers moving back toward vertical integration coined by Ford\’s Henry Ford and away from aspects related to JIT integrated into the 1950\’s by Toyota\’s Taiichi Ohno.
Seasonal By Purpose
Outside of these phenomenons, certain cars are seasonal by purpose, so there will be a specific season you will need to be mindful of selling the vehicle based upon that.
Most mass-market vehicles can be bought and sold year-round with a relatively low impact on demand and sales price.
According to Statista and goodcarbadcar.net, February and December were the highest volume months for car sales last year. Based on certain months producing a higher demand, it will be essential to gear up beforehand to sell your vehicle when the demand is the greatest, and the potential sale price is as well.
Determining Book and Market Value
Other than seasonality and knowing the best time to sell your vehicle, you will want to determine the book and market values and follow the process of preparing the vehicle to be sold, based on the info found in the \’How To Sell Your Car?\’ blogs.
Remember to control the controllable. But be prepared in the event of a downturn, supply chain disruption, storms, or other implications that can impact the auto market.
Call To Action
Look at your vehicle(s) and determine the value–the book value and market value–and whether seasonality would impact the vehicles you own so that you can preemptively plan on selling the car when there\’s a high demand and return on your sale.
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