Recently, car dealers are selling more used cars than ever before. According to new figures from trade association BOVAG, 561,100 used passenger cars were involved in the first five months of this year. That’s almost 11 percent more than a year ago and the highest number ever.
The industry attributes its success to the need for personal transportation. It has grown significantly since the start of the corona crisis. It also emerged this week that new car sales are recovering.
In January and February, used car sales were still in a dip because the showrooms were forced to close. But since the reopening at the beginning of March, the specialist trade has been selling around 120,000 second-hand passenger cars every month. Last month, 123,629 used cars were delivered, which is a record for the month of May.
Petrol cars remain by far the most popular second-hand cars, accounting for 80 percent of total sales. However, the number of used electric drives sold also rose sharply compared to January to May 2020.
BOVAG also notices that the vending machine is on the rise. Partly due to the arrival of electric and hybrid cars, only 65 percent of the used cars traded are now manual transmissions. Fifteen years ago, it was about 90 percent. Electric and hybrid vehicles, by definition, have an automatic gearbox.