European used Battery Electric Vehicle sales rise on the back of improved availability reports INDICATA

Used prices rise by up to 28% following high demand, constrained supply and low stock levels 

Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) were Europe’s fastest-selling used cars in October in the United Kingdom, Portugal, Denmark, and The Netherlands according to the latest INDICATA Market Watch used car insights report.

This is the second successive month that EVs have sold faster than traditional ICEs in Europe. The semiconductor issues impacting the lead times on new cars and with used car demand depleting stocks, drivers are taking advantage of the available EV stocks.

When studying the top selling and fastest-selling used electric and hybrid cars in October, not much has changed. The Toyota C-HR retained its position as the best-selling hybrid and the Renault Zoe as the best-selling EV under four years old. The Toyota Prius also retained its position as Europe’s fastest-selling hybrid while the Audi e-tron regained its crown as the fastest-selling EV from the electric MINI.

Meanwhile, the Volkswagen Golf retained its dominance as Europe’s overall best-selling used car, while the Kia Carens was Europe’s fastest selling used car.

Overall, in October Europe’s online B2C used car sales increased by 1.4% month-on-month (MoM) but were down 2.5% year-on-year (YOY) due to supply constraints in most markets. However, October YTD sales were still 12.9% higher than the same period in 2020 and 10.9% above 2019 levels which reinforces how the increased focus remains on used cars as new car supply remains restricted.

The net effect of this high demand, constrained supply and limited stock is sharply rising prices which are up in all left-hand-drive markets since January 2021. Prices are up 3.2% in France, 8.6% higher in Germany, 10.2% in Italy and 14.9% in Portugal, while UK prices have risen 28.3% since the start of this year. indicata2

“The used market continues to thrive despite a shortage in stock. It’s interesting to see that greater availability of EVs is pushing up both wholesale and retail sales. It’s the perfect storm for the consumer as they look to switch to an EV faster than planned because of their availability,” explained Andy Shields, INDICATA’s global business unit director.

“It will be interesting to see when stocks of used petrol and diesel cars start to improve whether demand and prices of EVs will be impacted. The underlying fact is that consumer awareness of EVs is improving which is good news for OEMs and dealers,” he added.