By Ramesh Mathew/Staff Reporter


There appears to be a sudden surge in advertisements by people wanting to sell their cars, especially on popular online portals and social networking sites, of late.
This has led to an “oversupply” in the used vehicles market, say sources, which may lead to a fall in prices in the next two weeks. As a result, this may be a good time for those wanting to buy a used car, they point out.
A close look at some of these portals reveals that a large number of new entries – ranging from 100 to 200 - are posted in the used cars segment every day, with one of them showing an even higher number.
For instance, in the three hours between 3pm and 6pm yesterday, there were more than 100 new posts on the site, it was found. The same sites received 20-25 such posts a day until a few weeks ago.
Replying to queries from Gulf Times, sources in the automobile sector attributed the situation to ongoing developments in some oil and gas companies, where downsizing of staff has reportedly been on for more than a month. As a direct consequence, many employees, including senior ones, are rushing to put up online advertisements to sell their cars as they prepare to leave the country.
Inquiries show that many vehicles that are advertised for sale are not more than three years old and most of these vehicles are still with their first owner.
“As the pace of retrenchment in some companies has intensified in the last few weeks, there has been a corresponding rise in the supply of used cars,” said a source familiar with the used cars market. He expected the supply of cars, including 4x4s, to further increase in the coming days.
Apart from social networking sites, vehicle owners are also putting up sale notices on display boards at some of the popular hypermarkets.
Given the situation, some of the owners may be compelled to dispose of their vehicles at comparatively lower prices, said a long-time resident who runs an automobile workshop in the Industrial Area.
According to him, some owners may transfer their vehicles to friends’ names if they did not get the desired price before their departure.
Further, he stressed that the “oversupply” of used vehicles would lead to a fall in prices in the market over the next two weeks, benefiting buyers.