British
classic cars are looking very attractive to foreign investors with the fall in
Sterling
Since the Brexit result for the UK referendum in May
2016, the Sterling/Euro exchange rate has fallen around 15% from near to 1.32
to dip down to 1.10 and now around 1.12. The chart alongside illustrates
the substantial fall since May.
See our earlier NEWS item on Classic Car
Weekly and Classic Car Buyer, the two weekly newspapers for classic car enthusiasts.
More
Posted:
161026 |  | Since
the Brexit result of the UK referendum in May 2016, the Sterling/Euro exchange
rate has fallen around 15% from near to 1.32 to dip down to 1.10
and is now around 1.12 so at current rates British
classic cars for sale in the UK are very attractive to buyers from Mainland Europe
and overseas. Looking at typical MGBGTV8 and RV8 Condition 1 guide prices in
Euros in May and now in October illustrates this well.
| Model | Guide
May
16
£ | Guide
FX
@ 1.32
Euro | Guide
FX
@ 1.12
Euro | | MGBGTV8 | | 27,449 | 23,290 | | MG
RV8 | | 24,420 | 20,720 |
| The
table indicates an overseas buyer could save €4,159 (£3,713)
with an MGBGTV8 purchase and €3,700 (£3,304) with an RV8. Our
PriceWatch monitoring
of MGV8 prices suggests UK prices have moved ahead a little since our last
price guide review in May 2016 although there are clearly signs that suggest some
sellers may be pitching their Condition 1 cars at Condition 1 Plus prices.
Our next MGV8 price guide analysis and review will be at the end of April 2017
for release next May.
In the latest issue of the weekly newspaper Classic
Car Weekly their cover article headline is "Foreign buyers swoop to buy
British classics" and with their usual understatement add on page 3 "overseas
buyers in weak pound frenzy"! The article reports the auction house H&H
Classics' managing director saying "the current financial situation and
relatively easy export-import situation attracts continental European buyers".
In another quote CCW adds a classic car importer saying his firm has "not
imported anything from Japan in three months". Classics like reimported
RV8s will be more expensive for a UK Sterling based buyer in terms of the combination
of the currency conversion of the vehicle purchase cost in Japan and the return
freight and other costs payable in foreign currency. Those increased costs will
reduce the flow of RV8 reimports to the UK considerably and the effect we have
seen for 20 years from a flow of RV8 reimports increasing the stock of the model
in the UK, even halted. With a constant or possibly an increased demand for RV8s
in the UK from both UK buyers, and foreign buyers taking advantage of the reduced
Euro price for them, that should alter the supply and demand balance. That's likely
to lead to RV8 prices in the UK lifting a little as a consequence.
The
CCW article identifies the top six British marques being snapped up by foreign
buyers as Jaguar, Bentley, Rolls Royce, Aston Martin, MG
and Ford. |
|
