Sales of second-hand vehicles are also falling. In question, fears about purchasing power and the lack of stocks.
The year 2021 ended with a bang for used cars. With 6 million vehicles sold (+8% compared to 2020), the second hand displayed an insolent health. Especially since sales of new vehicles continued to skate: 1.6 million units sold in 2021 (+0.5% compared to 2020). Very far from the record sales of 2019 (2.2 million cars). But this year, boom! In April, the used vehicle market recorded a drop of 16.9% compared to April 2021 with, according to the reference organization AAA Data, 434,730 registrations.
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How to explain this decline? “First, there is a shortage of recent vehicles, explains Christophe Winkelmuller, boss of L’Agence automobile, a network of more than 100 franchisees in France. Stocks are empty. Everyone continues to drive in their old car. This slows down the arrival of second-hand vehicles. With fears about purchasing power, many consumers no longer commit or postpone their decision. It must be said that used vehicles are more and more expensive.
Only entry-level brands continue to sell their low-priced models well
At L’Agence automobile, the average price has increased by 1,100 euros in one year, from 13,900 to 15,000 euros. In addition, the car is becoming less and less essential for many city dwellers, who are adopting other forms of mobility. The more recent the cars, the greater the drop: – 33% on vehicles less than 1 year old, – 5% on those 2 to 5 years old. In general, German sedans (Audi, BMW, Mercedes) are in less demand, as are diesels which, although still representing 55% of sales, lost 13% in the first quarter of 2022. Only first-price brands such as Dacia or the Koreans (Kia, Hyundai) continue to sell well their models at menu prices.
“I see customers stop driving Mercedes to switch to Dacia. You could call it downgrading. I prefer to say that it is pragmatism, testifies Christophe Winkelmuller. Ditto for the colours: brown or garnet, which were not very popular in the past, are also finding takers. Some highly demanded models such as the Dacia Sandero or the Toyota Yaris even have similar prices new and used. Hybrid vehicles (+35%) and electric vehicles (+66%) remain at high tide, the volumes of which are however marginal. At L’Agence automobile, this represents 6% of sales, double the previous year. Because electricity is expensive. Autonomy and battery charging still put off many customers.