Manheim Australia is processing and selling more fleet lease vehicles at its weekly wholesale auctions than ever before, driven by increased business from major fleet management organisations (FMOs).
Sales of fleet lease vehicles YTD have doubled at Manheim compared to the same time in 2022, representing one of the fastest growing segments of the business. In fact, July and August 2024 are the two biggest-volume sales months for ex-fleet lease vehicles at Manheim Australia, dating back as far as 2000.
The predominant sources of these vehicles are major players LeasePlan, SG Fleet, Custom Fleet and Summit, reflecting the market’s increasing uptake of things like novated leases unmanaged by FMOs.
Manheim is stepping up its cadence of FMO-focused auctions and putting greater resources into working with this sector. For example, the first dealer-only national auction for LeasePlan and SG Fleet since before COVID yielded an 86% successful sales rate on 151 late-model vehicles offered.
Manheim Australia also recently appointed Daniel Colina from BMW Australia to be the company’s new Head of Fleet, Government, Corporate & Rental, and is strengthening ties with relevant organisations such as the National Automotive Leasing and Salary Packaging Association (NALSPA).
Manheim in August and YTD
Overall, Manheim wholesale car volume – excluding salvage and industrial – was up more than 30% in August YoY and is running 42% higher compared to the same January to August period in 2023 (YTD). August was the second-largest month of sales this year after July, with volumes running at four-year highs.
In addition to the strong fleet lease sales growth (up 47% YoY), Manheim is also observing strong volume upticks in vehicles being sold on behalf of OEMs (up 71% including dealer-only and public auctions), dealers (up 48%), government departments such as QFleet (up 47%), and rentals (up 56%).
The volume increases YoY are consistent across Australia, with the greatest incremental volume coming through Melbourne (up 46%) and Brisbane (up 51%). Manheim is also seeing strong percentage growth in Adelaide (43%), Darwin (86%), Hobart (20%), Newcastle (30%), Perth (43%), and Sydney (20%).
One thing for vendors and buyers alike to be aware of is the cooling of average wholesale prices, which are down on average 7.6% this year and around 20% since the middle of 2022, when vehicle shortages were driving up transaction prices.
On the whole though, auction prices are still up 32% since December 2019, meaning vendors should expect reasonable returns for their assets. This is particularly the case on older assets, for example average prices of 2-4 year old passenger cars are up 39.6% since late 2019, whereas those aged 5-7 are up 50% by contrast.
Traditional passenger cars (hatchbacks, sedans, wagons etc) remain much more elevated on the Manheim Price Index than SUVs, which are in greater supply, with light commercial utes and vans somewhere in the middle.
From a fuel-type perspective, sales of hybrid vehicles are up almost threefold (192.1%) YoY, led of course by an influx of ex-fleet Toyotas, coinciding with the arrival of new stock.
EVs remain a small part of the overall mix and there are some well-publicised challenges around residual values, however Manheim expects a steep uptick in volume from 2025 and will have battery state-of-health testing and EV-only auctions available for vendors to maximise consumer confidence.
Some other recent company highlights include the return of fortnightly Adelaide auctions, the launch of our simpler new Online Invoice Portal, and Manheim’s car buying service, Sell My Car, passing 50,000 cumulative car sales over 10 years in operation.
Top 5 models sold at Manheim in 2024 YTD:
- Ford Ranger: Up 39.6% YTD
- Toyota Camry: Up 68.8%
- Isuzu D-Max: Up 79.5%
- Toyota Corolla: Up 87.8%
- Toyota HiLux: Up 43.6%
