A review of the used car market in the European Union
The European fleet of passenger cars is increasing in size and rapidly ageing. A larger stock of older vehicles introduces a legacy effect limiting the adoption of newer cars, thus slowing down the transition towards more fuel-efficient and less polluting ones. Yet, little is known about the characteristics of the used vehicle market in Europe. This report contributes to filling this gap by providing an integrated analysis of the EU-27 used light-duty vehicle market. First, it summarizes the major challenges observed in the analysis of macro-scale sale statistics of used vehicles – trade flows between Member States and from and to third countries. Second, it sources new data on used vehicle characteristics from Member State vehicle agencies, providing an additional focus on the emerging second-hand market for electric vehicles. Analysis of the four largest EU passenger car markets – France, Germany, Italy and Spain – revealed that the vehicle fleet has aged substantially between 2007 and 2023 and that different countries are characterised by different trends in the used market. A growing market of used electrified vehicles was equally identified, with substantial variation across Member States.
ZACHAROF Nikiforos;
NUR Jamil;
KOURTESIS Dimitrios;
KRAUSE Jette;
FONTARAS Georgios;
2025-03-21
Publications Office of the European Union
JRC140203
978-92-68-23589-8 (online),
1831-9424 (online),
EUR 40179,
OP KJ-01-24-251-EN-N (online),
https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC140203,
10.2760/3237256 (online),
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