Welcome to the 2017 Autumn/Winter edition of our Trade Newsletter
As 2017 comes to a close, it was a quieter year for the motor trade than recent years, especially for new vehicles. Up to the end of November 2017, there were 161,443 new vehicles registered in Ireland. That compares to 182,143 for the same period in 2016, a drop of 11.4%. For cars only, there were 126,786 new cars registered up to the end of November 2017, and 143,439 for the same period in 2016, a decline of 11.7%. However, used vehicle transactions performed very similar to 2016. For the periods to the end of November, there were 1,032,499 used vehicle transactions in 2017, with 1,047,744 transactions in 2016 and 1,002,053 for 2015 (Stats available from Cartell Carstat).
We have helped thousands of motor dealers over that time from buying or trading in potentially dangerous cars or cars with finance outstanding. We will continue to improve our market leading trade services and we will continue to invest in our advanced technologies like our new Trade APP and our expert valuations from CPG, so that you can be sure that you are getting the most detailed and accurate vehicle history check in Ireland. First to Market, First for Data, First for you!
As a valued customer, we would like to offer you 10% extra credit into your account when you credit your account with €200 to €500 during the month of December. So make sure you get the full history from Ireland’s first and most comprehensive vehicle history check. Details of how to claim your extra credit can be found below.
Merry Christmas + a Happy New Year
Cartell Trade APP is coming!
From January 2018, Cartell will be launching its new Trade App. The app will have a host of features like ANPR which allows you to check vehicles or get CPG Valuations by simply taking a photo with your smart phone! Our licenced OCR technology will recognise the registration, Irish or UK, and enter the details into the Cartell system for you. You can also credit your account, update your password, check previous checks, view invoices and much more. We will email you once the app is available to download.
€50 Free Credit? Yes Please!
It’s Christmas and we want to give you – our valued trade customer- up to €50 in free credit to your account. Simply top up your account between €200 and €500 and you can claim 10% extra free credit. Simply email trade@cartell.ie once you’ve topped up and we’ll do the rest. As a trade user, it is vital to ensure you are getting the full history of any vehicle, whether it was previously written-off, previously a taxi, or has outstanding finance – you need to be informed before making that purchase. Cartell brought vehicle history checking to Ireland over 10 years ago, and we have the largest database across Ireland and the UK. So get the full story from the company who brought vehicle history checking to Ireland. This offer will run from today until the end of January 2018!
Electronomous 2018 – The Car Tech Summit
Join some of Ireland & Europe’s Key Automotive and TECH Executives for Electronomous 2018 on May 2nd and 3rd. The event is a 1.5 Day International Conference with an Irish context bringing together Top experts in the field of Electric Vehicles, Connected Car Technology, ADAS, Cyber Security and Autonomous Vehicles.
Now in its Second Year, Electronomous has already established itself as a Key Industry event with ambitions of becoming one of Europe’s leading AUTOMOTIVE TECHNOLOGY EVENTS over the coming years. The Event is a ONE AND A HALF DAY International Conference with an Irish context bringing together Top experts in the field of Electric Vehicles, Connected Car Technology, ADAS, Cyber Security and Autonomous Vehicles. It will provide a unique glimpse technology will affect the Automotive Industry, Insurance industry, Car Finance Industry, Car Sales and Motoring into the future.
It will also offer an unprecedented opportunity to Network with Industry leaders and leading experts in the fields mentioned above while also providing a great platform to create new business relationships
For a limited time only get Electronomous 2018 tickets for €235 + VAT. (Price increase on 20th December)
Secure your tickets today at http://www.electronomous.com/
Trade Weekly Report Summary
A few weeks ago we release our updated Previous Checks Summary page which shows your last 50 reports or if more than 50, your last 30 days reports.
This has been a fantastic success as it shows at a glance which vehicles have Damage, Imported, Mileage issues, Mileage not checked, Finance or other Historical issues. Clicking on any icon opens up the report at the exact location of the flagged issue.
In the coming weeks, we will be extending this functionality to send you a short weekly summary of your recent report activity which at a glance will summarise key items such as number of reports done, count of those on Finance, count with Damage, count with no mileage entered, number of mileage discrepancies etc.
This is a fantastic way for you to ensure you are kept informed about all the vehicles checked on your account, especially if more than one user is carrying out car history checks.
Age of Fleet Falls as Imports at all-time high
Vehicle history and data expert CARTELL.IE reported in November that the age of the fleet in Ireland is falling while the size of the imported fleet reaches an all-time high.
Cartell.ie first tracked the average age of all native private vehicles in Ireland (excluding imports) for each month between 1999 and 2017. Between January 2017 and November 2017 the fleet age has fallen by 75 days. Next Cartell.ie tracked the age of imported vehicles into Ireland for each month between 1999 and 2017 and found that between January 2017 to November 2017 the age of the imported Irish fleet has fallen by 112 days as buyers are bringing in newer vehicles.
Graph 1: Age of Private Fleet, Native fleet, Imports 1999 to 2017 (Source: Cartell Carstat)
The overall age of the imported fleet has fallen in 2017 but still stands higher than the native fleet. The age of the native fleet currently stands at 8.62 years while the age of the imported fleet stands at 9.02 years: which is the youngest recorded age for the imported fleet since July 2011. The overall age of the private fleet in Ireland (native and imported) stands at 8.7 years (3,181 days): representing a decline of 80 days since January 2017.
Cartell.ie next looked at the size of the imported fleet in Ireland for every month between 1999 and 2017 and found that the size of the imported fleet is now at an all-time high with 480,606 vehicles registered in Ireland after previous registration in a different country. The size of the private fleet (native and imported) stood at 2,289,922 on 1st November 2017.
John Byrne, Legal & Public Relations Manager, Cartell.ie, says:
The size of the private fleet in Ireland continues to grow but the age is declining: imports are reducing the age of the Irish fleet as buyers move up the years and bring in a car from the UK. Possibly buyers are importing newer vehicles without retiring older vehicles in the fleet – this may explain why the age is declining while the size is still increasing. The imported fleet now stands at nearly half a million vehicles. Buyers should be careful when importing a vehicle as it may carry a hidden history from another country – such as where the vehicle was previously written-off or still has finance outstanding on it, or was clocked.
“Clocking” a big problem – for domestic and imported vehicles
In September you may have seen us in the media when we published an important story with AA Ireland. They had approached us about finding out more about “clocked” vehicles including those coming in from the UK. We ran a huge study – looking at more than 120,000 vehicles – and found that 1 in 10 second hand cars for sale in Ireland has a false mileage displayed. The figure is even worse for cars imported from the UK where nearly 1 in 5 has an unreliable or questionable mileage reading. 
Commenting on our report’s findings Conor Faughnan, Director of Consumer Affairs at AA Ireland said, “Clocking is a very serious issue and something that anyone looking at purchasing a second hand car, whether in Ireland or from the UK, needs to watch out for. For example, our AA Rescue team regularly encounter car breakdowns which can be directly connected back to mileage discrepancies in the car. If a car has been clocked it’s highly likely that the car also has a questionable service history so, for example, a motorist could think their car isn’t due a service for another few months but then suddenly find their timing belt has snapped.”
Finance Levels Way up in 2017
In July we looked at the proportion of vehicles offered for sale (across all years) with finance outstanding and found it was at 12.5% – up from 11.5% in January 2017 and 9.5% in June 2016. In the case of one-year-old vehicles (2016) the levels of vehicles offered for sale with finance outstanding had risen from 31.58% for the full year 2016 to 36.83% up until July in 2017 – representing an increase of 16.62%. This means there is now almost a two-in-five chance of a one-year-old vehicle being offered for sale with finance outstanding.
Similarly in the case of two-year-old vehicles (2015) there is a 32.64% chance of a vehicle being offered for sale with finance outstanding based on checks on Cartell.ie in 2017.
Graph 2: Historic Percentages of Vehicles with Outstanding Finance checked on Cartell.ie (Source: Carstat, Cartell.ie)
John Byrne, Cartell.ie, says:
33% of all three-year-old vehicles (2014) checked so far this year on Cartell.ie have finance outstanding. This is up from 26.8% of three-year-old vehicles (2013) checked last year on the site. The rise is probably due to expiring PCPs where owners are testing the market to see if they can return a higher price than the Guaranteed Minimum Future Value (GMFV) guaranteed by the dealer.
475,000 Irish Diesel Owners in-line for a Trade-In Bonus!
Watch out for trade-in bonus incentives! In August we looked at trade-in bonus schemes proposed by vehicle manufacturers for Diesel Euro 4 (EU4) emission standard vehicles and below and found that nearly half a million owners could be in line for a bonus.
With reports in the media that some vehicle manufacturers are set to introduce diesel scrappage schemes to incentivise the roll-out of electric mobility and low emission vehicles, Cartell found the total number of private diesel cars in the Irish fleet EUR 4 (EU4) or below (which would be eligible for such schemes) is currently 474,624.
Jeff Aherne, Director Engineer, Cartell.ie says:
Vehicle manufacturers such as BMW are clearly making moves to take older diesel-powered-vehicles off the road. We feel the market has reached tipping point now and the consumer is ready to adopt low emission vehicles if the incentives are there. The numbers we are publishing today show that vehicle manufacturers can make considerable inroads by focusing simply on EU4 emission standard vehicles and below where there are almost half a million vehicles in play.