Used BEVs are selling at an electrifying pace across Europe reports INDICATA

Europe’s fastest selling used cars in May were all Battery Electric Vehicles (BEVs) according to INDICATA latest Market Watch insights report.

Tesla took the top two slots for fastest selling models with the Model Y and the Model 3 with the Kia Niro retaining its third place. This is the first time this has happened since INDICATA first launched its report in March 2020.

Used BEVs are in high demand with sales 33% higher in June than in the same month in 2021 although sales are becoming more restricted by a lack of stock coming into the market.

Stock turn rose by a dramatic 83% year-on-year with BEVs now selling consistently as fast as petrol and diesel used cars across the majority of European countries.

Overall used car sales have stalled across Europe and are 8.9% lower year to date than the first five months of 2021 due to limitations in stock. Between May and June 2022 stock fell in ten out of 13 countries in the report with Belgium, Poland, Portugal, and Turkey being the worst affected.

Prices across Europe are now 12.2 percentage points higher than at the start of the year as a result of low stock and healthy demand, except for the UK which has seen a 1.9 percentage point fall in 2022. Used prices have been forecast to fall by as much as 15% in 2022, but prices will remain 20-25% higher than pre pandemic levels.

Austria, Belgium, Italy, and Germany meanwhile have seen prices rise during 2022 of 11.3, 9.5, 9.1 and 9.0 percentage points respectively

Turkey is still Europe’s most volatile used market as its sales have risen by 86.5% compared with 2021. The continued demand in the used car market continues to erode stock levels which are now 29.8% lower than in June 2021. All these trends are against a backdrop of used prices rising by 72.1% in just 12 months.

“We have seen used BEVs continue their meteoric rise during May and the only factor hampering this continued rise in popularity is a shortage of stock,” explained Andy Shields, INDICATA’s global business unit director.

“With used stocks low across all sectors prices show very little sign of cooling down in the majority of markets. The used market is likely to continue at this level for a long time to come with new car supplies likely to be compromised into 2024,” he added.