Automotive Business Magazine – Q2 2026 – Digital edition - Magazine - Page 71
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Meanwhile, various other factors are at
play in the UK’s transition. More on-street
charging in urban areas could aid the
move from ICE vehicles, for example.
“Battery health checks will help," Martin
adds. "I don’t think battery health is
an issue, but consumers need to be
reassured that it won’t be an issue.
“For the next few years, battery health
checks are going to be an important
aspect of getting consumers to feel
confident, so getting some mandates
on this is important. Some dealers and
OEMs are already doing battery health
checks to encourage adoption.”
Explaining to customers where they
can charge locally and how to plan longer
journeys when selling EVs could help
them see how they fit in real life.
“For the majority of people and the
majority of journeys, EVs will work,"
Martin says. "It is also good to consider
EVs as a second car for most people. If
they need a car to just do short journeys,
cheaper EVs will fit in nicely.”
Martin feels that though they are “part
of the future,” strict mandates and
Government expectations surrounding
EVs will affect prices.
“Some of the legacy brands will be
doing pre-registrations to meet the
targets,” he says. “There needs to be
more of a smoother transition into
adoption. Because the Government
has already given the 2030 deadline,
manufacturers have put a lot of time and
money into it.
“We should continue down the path,
but we need to make the path a little
longer by changing the percentage
adoption targets to make them more
realistic for consumer demand.”
Used market stability
Various factors have affected used
market stability, from second-hand stock
limitations to pricing being affected
by the JLR cyber attack.
“I would say the main thing
has been a lack of stock
because of the Covid years,”
Martin explains. “The
typical three-year-old
car has been in short
supply. It has been
quite a strong
DERREN MARTIN
market, because values haven’t dropped
as much as they normally would have.
They have not gone through the roof, but
it has been a pretty strong year.
“Demand is generally OK in the used
car market, because a used car is often
a necessity purchase. Supply hasn’t been
as strong as it has been in previous
years, so supply and demand dynamics
have led to a stable pricing.”
“Specifically for ICE, we expect to see
an uptick in demand in the first quarter
of the year. As this happens in most
years,” Martin adds.
“Volumes are going to start to increase
in the new year as registrations in the
new car market have started to increase,
bringing with them part-exchange
vehicles for the used market.”
Changing market
One major story from 2025 was the
cyberattack at a major manufacturer.
Halting production for over a month.
Martin says: “JLR has also been a
fascinating one, their used values went
up because you couldn’t get a new one.
They have now started to drop in price
again, seeing some interesting trends.
“Seasonality has been something I have
MPVs were in strong
been looking at. MPV
summer; there are not
demand over the summ
onto the market.
many new MPVs coming ont
away approaching the
This starts to dip aw
SUVs, they used to
winter months. With SUV
purchase, and now every
be a seasonal purch
SUV.”
second car seems to be an SUV
One of the things M
Martin is intrigued to
Chinese brands will
see in 2026 is how Chin
particular.
work in the used market, in par
He explains: “It will be interesting
to
int
between
start seeing the competition betw
and legacy brands in
these Chinese OEMs an
space.
the aftermarket space
“The Chinese bran
brands specifically don’t
into the
have many cars coming back int
see how this
used market, so we will s
plays out.”
Finally, with recent ev
events on the global
increasingly difficult
stage, it has become in
the market might
to understand what th
or a year.
look like in six months o
Martin concludes: “It will be int
interesting
horrible situation in
to see whether the h
East has a knockand around the Middle E
going up. In the
on effect with oil prices g
have increased, it
past when petrol prices h
interest in used EVs.”
has led to more inter
Q2 2026
AUTOMOTIVE BUSINESS
AUTOMO
71
