The price of new cars is through the roof. There are no longer models for less than 10,000 euros and the expense involved in purchasing a model fresh from the factory unbalances the budget of many families who juggle to make ends meet. Therefore, when it comes to changing vehicles, many turn to the second-hand market.
In fact, in Spain more used cars are sold than brand new ones; In 2022, the ratio was 2.3 second-hand examples for every new one. And generally speaking, the younger a car is, the higher its price. For this reason, when the economy is tight, the buyer is forced to choose older vehicles – as long as their trips are not affected by the mobility restrictions that apply in the low-emission zones of some cities.
According to the information offered by the Faconauto dealer association in its VII Used Vehicle Observatory, the used cars that have been transferred this year have an average age of 13.1 years. This figure accentuates a negative trend that has been going on since 2020, when the average was 11.7 years. Without a doubt, this is a negative fact that in no way helps to rejuvenate the Spanish automobile fleet, which is one of the oldest in Europe.
The Faconauto report indicates that 57.7% of the second-hand market is taken up by copies over ten years old, sold mainly by individuals, while those that are up to 7 years old and have been sold by dealers and professionals, only represent the 34.8% of the total.
In terms of fuels, the Spanish market remains “dieselized”, since 55.3% of transfers correspond to this technology, followed by gasoline (37.9%). New technologies, which still have little impact on the fleet, only represent 5.1%, in the case of hybrids, and 1.4%, in the case of electrified vehicles.
Given this panorama, the president of Faconauto, Marta Blázquez, has pointed out that “the function of the used vehicle must be the great lever so that those “sensitive” pockets get out of that wheel of old cars and have the option of also moving with a used, but not old, but “young” and much more aligned with the common goal of decarbonizing mobility.”
For this reason, the employers' association has proposed a “complex-free” aid plan, which includes vehicles up to one year old, as well as a “social decarbonization” plan so that, precisely, the lowest incomes can purchase a vehicle up to five years old. in exchange for scrapping a vehicle over fifteen years old.
According to forecasts prepared by the consulting firm Grant Thornton, transfers of used vehicles will close this year with just over two million units, which will represent a 4% growth compared to 2022. In the next three years the growth, but until 2025 the market will not record pre-pandemic figures again, specifically, it will exceed 2.2 million copies.
Although the used cars transferred this year have an average of around 13 years old, the study Habits in purchasing VO and young VO in 2023 indicates that interest in younger examples is increasing. According to this report, prepared by the Coches.net portal and Faconauto, interest in cars up to five years old has gone from 49% in 2022 to 54% today. For its part, used vehicles more than five years old have fallen ten points, going from 41% in 2022 to 31% this year.
