Vehicle valuation companies Glass’s and CAP have said that the Volkswagen emissions scandal currently rocking the brand has so far only had a minor impact on trade prices, and will have no impact on residual values.
Glass’s said that trade values of all Volkswagen used cars in the Glass’s database at the end of September were the same as they were at the beginning of month. However, the overall used car market has seen an increase of 2.1% during the same period – meaning that the value of the VWs have effectively fallen by 2.1%.
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The effect was slightly more pronounced with diesel VWs, which dropped 0.2% in value over the same period. In contrast overall diesel values have risen 2.8%.
The company said this had the potential to change, depending on what further actions VW make.
Rupert Pontin, head of valuations said: "This is still a fluid situation and, we believe, will be very much affected on an ongoing basis by how Volkswagen deal with the problems facing them."
"We are still waiting to find out the full extent of the issue in the UK. Dealers and customers are not in a position to make a clear judgement about how they feel about Volkswagen as a company and whether they will be prepared to continue to buy their cars going forward.
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By GlobalData"In our opinion, we may yet see further value changes as VW release more information. The way in which they do this, and the manner in which they support their dealer network and customers, will heavily impact on overall perception of the brand.
"We are aware that a number of key trade buyers are viewing Volkswagen conservatively for the time being, although it is fair to say that there are also others who are less concerned and are essentially standing by the brand and its products."
Residual values
CAP Automotive said that it thought the current scandal would have ‘no discernible’ impact on used values, specifically pointing to the minor effects of previous global recalls and general public perceptions.
Dylan Setterfield, senior forecasting editor at CAP said: "We do not expect there to be any significant impact on used values for VAG models in the UK as a direct result of the US emissions scandal. The last global recall was the Toyota/Lexus issue, and despite the fact that this had serious safety implications, there was no discernible impact on used values.
"It is also far from certain that VAG are the only ones to have employed such technology on their vehicles in the USA.
"UK consumers remain relatively unaware of Nitrogen Oxide emissions and are far more accepting of diesel technology than their counterparts in the USA. The overriding view is that diesel vehicles are more economical than their petrol equivalents (even if this is not always the case), and the torque characteristics of diesel engines are generally popular with drivers.
"There is already wide acceptance that official data regarding CO2 emissions and fuel economy are broadly unreliable across the board. This is reputational issue for VW and I’m sure they will take steps to reassure customers and rebuild trust."
CAP said it had received a high volume of enquiries from across the industry around the potential impact on used values, and that it would continue to monitor the situation for any changes.
VW contacting 1.2m UK customers
For its part, VW UK has said in the coming days it will contact affect customers with details of a process to get their vehicles corrected in the near future.
Volkswagen said the number of vehicles fitted with the software behind the emissions scandal in the UK are:
- Volkswagen Passenger Cars – 508,276
- Audi – 393,450
- SEAT – 76,773
- KODA – 131,569
- Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles – 79,838
In October, VW is due to present the technical solutions and measures to the various national and international authorities in October.
In the meantime VW stressed that these vehicles were safe to drive.
