While the first quarter had already been disappointing, the month of April was not favorable to the automotive market, revealed Thursday Traxio, the federation of the mobility sector. Last month, only 48,707 used vehicles were sold, a decline of 19.8% compared to last year (60,748). As for new registrations, they are around 27,345, i.e. 28.3% less compared to 2021 (38,114).
Over the first four months of 2022, the cumulative number of second-hand registrations amounted to 216,279 units, i.e. a drop of 11.3% compared to last year (243,831). On the new car side, the statistics for the same period ended with a drop of 17.9%, or 131,277 units compared to 159,986 in 2021. “It is striking that the second-hand market has been doing poorly for several months in a row, due to higher demand than declining supply. Customers are mainly looking for recent second-hand vehicles whose Euro standard is recent, as than gasoline vehicles, SUVs and small city cars”, notes Traxio.
There are several reasons why the offer is currently less important, in particular delivery problems which delay the arrival of rental and leasing cars or the tendency of individuals to keep their current vehicle longer.
Deliveries remain a big problem
“These trends have created a field of tension and prices have increased by 15% in a year’s time. Not to mention the war in Ukraine, not only a major producer of certain spare parts but also a great outlet for older second-hand “, points out Filip Rylant, spokesperson for Traxio. Dealerships confirm this trend.
“Delivery remains a big issue (semiconductors and war in Ukraine) and we clearly see that European brands are suffering more than American and Asian brands,” they say, surveyed by Traxio. “We are also seeing a marked trend towards more 100% electric and hybrid cars, not least because the share of company and leasing cars is disproportionately high. Since March (war in Ukraine), sales have been falling: individuals, and, to a lesser extent, companies are postponing their purchases. We have also seen a sharp rise in prices since the start of the year (+10% on average).”
For its part, AutoScout24 indicates Thursday that the average price of a vehicle has decreased for the first time since August 2020, i.e. 18 months. The used vehicle market thus seems to be stabilizing after two turbulent years. “After a year 2021 of all records with sales up 8.2% over the 2020 financial year and 2.4% over that of 2019 and the 23% increase in used vehicle prices, this month of March marks the first decrease in average vehicle price seen on AutoScout24 since August 2020.”points out the online car sales platform. “So we had to wait 18 months for a modest decrease of 0.67%.”