The crazy used car market
To unimagined heights
BMW used cars
© press-inform – the press office
The search for a new car is more unpleasant than ever due to the ongoing chip crisis. But things are hardly looking any better on the used car market, as prices have soared to unimagined heights in recent months. There is no end in sight.
Anyone who was able to get a fairly priced or even cheap used car last spring can look forward to it. Because since the beginning of 2021, the prices for young and scrap metal have risen to unimagined heights across almost all segments and brands. In countries like Germany or Austria in particular, used cars have become more expensive than ever from month to month. In the case of particularly popular models, the numbers on the price boards even increased by 20 to 30 percent – while at the same time the range was thinner than ever. The only advantage: after all, the used cars do not have endless delivery times. Meanwhile, quite a few customers have to wait more than a year for the new vehicle they have ordered. Autoscout24, one of the largest online exchanges in Europe, recorded a price increase of eight percent across Europe last year. At the same time, the offer was reduced by eleven percent. Even if the sales statistics for new cars are now going downhill, the VW Golf remained the most popular used car in Europe again in 2021. This was also noticeable on the used car market, as prices rose by 21 percent in 2021 compared to the previous year.
“A look at the European markets shows a similar picture to the one at Germany: Prices are rising in the double-digit percentage range, while supply is falling across Europe,” says Dr. Michael Luhnen, Head of Sales at AutoScout24, “due to the pandemic, consumers across Europe are increasingly preferring the car over local public transport. The increasing demand is meeting a reduced supply, because many factories are or have been shut down due to the semiconductor shortage. Whoever is actually buying a new car wanted, is increasingly switching to used ones. “
The figures for the second large car portal Mobile.de look similar. Car buyers here had to spend almost a quarter more on a vehicle than in the same month last year. In December, dealers in Germany’s largest vehicle market called on an average of 29,910 euros for their models. The highest price increase compared to the previous month fell on small cars (plus 3.9 percent). But the general price trend is also evident in the year-on-year comparison for models in the small, compact and medium-sized classes: prices rose by more than 25 percent in the three segments. “We can attribute the sustained upward trend in prices to the still tense situation in the new car market,” says Martin Fräder, Head of Sales at Mobile, “but we can also see that mileage has been falling across all segments since July 2021. And it is Average age decreased by 5.6 percent year-on-year. And fewer kilometers driven and younger age will probably also be reflected in higher prices. “
Even if the average prices for used cars went up across Europe, there were clear differences in the individual markets. In 2021, consumers in France paid just two percent more than a year ago, while Austrian consumers had to lie down 13 percent more. Nevertheless, the bottom line is that the Alpine countries get away cheaper than the French, as the price level in France was already very high in 2020. A used car in Austria cost an average of 22,949 euros on the Autoscout24 online exchanges in 2021, while in France 24,167 euros were called up. A used car is more expensive in Luxembourg alone, where the average price was the highest in Europe at over 28,000 euros. Unsurprisingly, given the vehicle market: nowhere is the average price of a used car cheaper than in Italy. Even if the prices rose by seven percent, the value here was just 17,816 euros. The vehicles are hardly more expensive in the Netherlands and Belgium, where the values were still below 20,000 euros despite growth.
Electric cars are slowly becoming more and more popular as used cars in Europe. The purchase inquiries for Stromer have increased year-on-year not only at Mobile.de or AutoScout24. If you compare November 2021 with November 2020, for example, you will find an average increase in inquiries of almost 150 percent. According to an Autoscout survey, 35 percent of car buyers are considering buying an electric model. Somewhat surprisingly, the models from US automaker Tesla are not the most popular models, which is probably due to the high prices. Despite its disastrous performance in the last Euro NCAP crash test, the Renault Zoe is probably the most popular electric car because of its average price of 16,400 euros. Because the Tesla Model 3 has an average price of 49,000 euros on the second electrical place and the older Model S just under 52,000 euros.