inflation
The used car market is going crazy – price increase of 25 percent
If the old man no longer wants it, it is currently difficult to get a replacement.
© Mixetto / Getty Images
New cars are hard to come by, so the demand for used ones is increasing. That drives up prices, a 25 percent increase in just one year is not uncommon.
The chip crisis has the car market under control. With the popular and highly subsidized electric models, the customer does not see the supply bottlenecks so much, because the manufacturers prefer to allocate the scarce semiconductors to the electric cars, which the future belongs to. With the combustion engines, you notice the gaps all the more. They are only available with long delivery times, if you can get the model you want at all.
As expected, the crisis in the new car market is now also striking the used car market a few months late. Customers who have to wait nine months or more for a new one are turning to the young used vehicles. With the result that prices are rising here.
Monthly increases
In countries like Germany or Austria, used cars have become more expensive every month. In the case of particularly popular models, the numbers on the price boards even increased by up to 30 percent – with a significantly smaller range. The only advantage of buying a used car: with the signature on the contract, you can take the vehicle with you. Waiting times of over a year are no longer uncommon in new business. 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.
But these numbers gloss over the situation. Because very old and cheap cars are hardly affected by the price increase. It looks completely different with newer and popular models. The price of a Golf rose 21 percent in one year.
Europe-wide effect
“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 meets a reduced supply, because the lack of semiconductors has caused many factories to stand or shut down. Those who actually wanted to buy a new car are increasingly turning to used ones . “
The same picture emerges at Mobile.de. The prices of the small, compact and mid-range models rose by more than 25 percent. “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.de, “but we can also see that mileage has been falling across all segments since July 2021. In addition the average age has fallen by 5.6 percent year-on-year. And fewer kilometers driven and younger age will probably also be reflected in higher prices. “
German manufacturers particularly popular
Price increases can be seen with slight differences in all European markets. The French lagged behind with a two percent increase in 2021, but they had already caught the price wave in 2020. Because of the different composition of the vehicle fleets, the average prices have little informative value. Italy – the land of small cars – is very cheap here. German brands are particularly popular across all countries. Volkswagen took first place, followed by Mercedes in second place, ahead of BMW in third place and Audi in fourth place. After the bestseller VW Golf, the Audi A4 took second place ahead of its little brother, the Audi A3. The VW Polo in fourth place is the cheapest vehicle among the most popular with an average price of 14,082 euros; with a plus of only one percent, it keeps its price almost stable.
Electric cars only play a minor role in the used car market. This is due to the high subsidies for new purchases, but also to the fact that there are simply only a few older Stromer. Naturally, Tesla vehicles are not cheap. The most popular used electric car is the Renault Zoe with an average price of 16,400 euros.
There is currently no real way out of the price spiral. Besides the practical advice to simply drive your own old man longer if possible. Of course, this method means that the supply of young used vehicles will only continue to decrease – so prices will continue to rise.