‘Larger offer and stable prices boost second-hand car market by 13,5%’

According to Mobility Federation Traxio, the new and second-hand car market continues to perform well in February 2024. Last month, 60,355 second-hand cars were registered, that is 7,160 units or 13,5% more than last year.

The success is due to the more significant offer and stable prices. Private individuals ‘ registrations of second-hand electric vehicles have risen sharply in February, especially in Flanders (+142.4%), thanks to the Flemish premium for electric cars.

‘Motor show conditions’

Interest also remains high in new vehicles, ICE, and especially electric cars—the number of new electric cars registered by private individuals more than doubled in February 2024 compared to February 2023, from 701 to 1469 units (+109.6%).

The positive trend in new car registrations in February can be attributed to the impact of January’s ‘motor show conditions’ and the boost they provided to the market, combined with standard delivery times.

Registrations of second-hand electric cars by private individuals increased to the same extent in February 2024 compared to February 2023, from 337 to 704 units (+108.9%). In February 2024, we saw a substantial increase of 543 registrations compared to 403 in January 2024. In this segment, Flanders represents a market share of 77.1% (+4.3% compared to January 2024).

VW and BMW best-selling

Volkswagen and BMW are the best-selling brands of second-hand passenger cars. The top 5 is completed by Mercedes (which rises one place to number three), ahead of Opel and Peugeot. The most popular models are the VW Golf (2,348), VW Polo (1,821), Opel Corsa (1,714), and BMW 3 Series (1,355).

Gasoline engines still have a market share of 54.8%, while the share of second-hand diesel cars continues to decline to 31.6%. On the other hand, it is encouraging that the share of hybrid and electric vehicles continues to increase, even if this increase remains modest. The median age of used cars in February 2024 is seven years and nine months, which is relatively high and detrimental to greening and emission reduction.

More recent second-hand cars

In the last months of 2023, the number of new cars delivered increased significantly, bringing more recent second-hand cars onto the market and rejuvenating the Belgian vehicle fleet – 36% of registered second-hand cars are less than five years old.

The second-hand market remains mainly private. However, start-up companies are more likely to opt for second-hand cars and are often interested in second-hand hybrid cars for the time being. Flanders continues to dominate the market for second-hand passenger car registrations, with a share of 56%. Wallonia retains a market share of 35%, and Brussels has a market share of 9%.