Summary: Wholesale used-vehicle prices rose 6.1 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026 at Manheim Australia, with the auction house recording its best Q1 sales volume since 2020 and selling more than 90 percent of all vehicles offered.
The standout in Cox Automotive Australia’s quarterly market insights report is the used EV segment, GoAuto notes. EV sales through Manheim’s lanes ran at roughly three times their 2025 rate, with average prices climbing more than 20 percent over just the past few weeks as dealer bidding intensified in response to rising consumer demand for second-hand electric vehicles.
Average selling prices were A$1,100 higher across ex-government, fleet, corporate, and repossessed vehicles compared with Q1 2025. Overall values sit 37.3 percent above where they were at the start of 2020. The consignment mix has shifted: vehicles arriving at auction are six months older and 3,000km higher in mileage than last year, and lease-company and government supply has thinned, partly due to lease extensions and reduced new-vehicle government procurement.
Brands mentioned: None
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