NAMA Light Commercial Vehicle (LCV) Grading was the topic of discussion at a recent Roadshow and Round table event held at the Cox Automotive Collaboration Centre at Bruntingthorpe on 17/18 July 2023. The roadshow was held over two days, with Monday dedicated to hearing the perspective of vendors, and Tuesday the perspective of buyers.
In 2013 NAMA launched the used car grading scheme for the UK, designed to facilitate the buying and selling process of a used car so that the condition of the vehicle is better understood by both parties. With a universal understanding of a vehicle’s condition, it is now possible for both parties to anticipate a more accurate market sale price.
In April 2023, the used car grading scheme received the highly coveted King’s Award for Enterprise - innovation with over 90% of the sector’s vehicles sold using the scheme, equating to over 10 million used cars sold, it has now become an invaluable support mechanism to the buying and selling process.
Following exceptional demand and feedback from members, NAMA is proposing a grading scheme specifically for Light Commercial Vehicles.
The roadshow was broken down into three key parts:
- An overview of the scheme and the identification of damage on LCVs.
- A practical demonstration where 5 LCVs were on display, each representing the different grading categories. Here, attendees were shown the recorded damage of each vehicle and were given opportunity to inspect the different commercials and form an opinion as to whether they agreed with its delegated grade within the 5-grade framework.
- And finally, the round table discussion – promoting discussion from attendees. This presented the opportunity to receive valuable feedback from those that will be using the grading scheme during the buying and selling process.
Going forward, NAMA will take away the feedback from buyers and vendors to develop the final proposed grading scheme. This will then be trialled by multiple Auction Groups, for data and functional analysis. A follow up round table event is planned for November where the analysis and final grading scheme for LCV will be shared.
The attendance and feedback received over the two day period was incredibly positive and supportive. This feedback will prove invaluable in the decision making used to finalise the grading specifications and for NAMA to understand first-hand the viewpoint of those that will be using the scheme each day.
“The used car grading scheme is now widely accepted by the industry as the definitive standard to describe the relative condition of cars for buyers and sellers. NAMA believe it is now time to implement this method and standards that have worked so effectively for the car sector, for light commercial vehicles.
