The industry standard measure of used car values, CAP, has been regularly surveying dealers since the start of the diesel boom. The data collected is then used to determine both current used car values and helps in the forecasting process for Monitor’s residual sales in the future. Simply put, these surveys help create a clear picture of the likely impact on pricing today and tomorrow and have revealed that demand for diesel remains as strong as ever with relatively few dealers moving away from diesel.

In the most recent survey, dealers were asked if they needed more, less or about the same amount of diesel stock they currently have. Encouragingly, the largest share of those questioned said they were comfortable with the existing balance. This proportion, at just under half (44%), was closely followed by dealers wanting more stock to cope with demand (41%). Only 15% of dealers questioned nationally claimed they now need less diesel stock than is available to them in the marketplace.

Overall, it seems clear that both the present and short-term future for used diesel cars remains very bright indeed!