Vendors awaiting the publication of CAP Automotive's latest Black Book have been told that the May edition will show bigger dips in used car trade values than a year ago.

The warning has been issued to prevent unnecessary alarm, since the declines are only natural following strong sales of new cars in March and the resulting increase in the supply of used vehicles.

Those relying solely on the traditional monthly price guide may be shocked to see these falls, but if they have been following price movements in the market in real-time over the last few weeks they might not be quite so surprised.

Indeed, CAP points out that the Black Book only provides an 'artificial snapshot' of the used car market, whereas its real-time trade valuation tool Black Book Live offers a much more accurate picture of where prices are heading.

Derren Martin, senior editor of Black Book Live, said: "The market has not gone into freefall, but customers of the monthly Black Book will certainly be seeing one of the most significant price reductions in the May edition for several years."

He added: "This is exactly the scenario that we introduced Black Book Live to address because customers of our real-time product have not been alarmed by what is merely the inevitable fall-out from such a strong March, following a long period of stability."

CAP went on to warn that vendors who use the monthly price guide only risk missing out on key profit-making opportunities, or experiencing unnecessary losses because they've been unable to respond to price fluctuations as they happen.

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