According to Filip Rylant, spokesperson for the mobility federation Traxio, the second-hand car market performed well in the first six months of the year, with 373,810 used car registrations, representing a 7.1% increase compared to the same period last year.
The second-hand market performed strongly in the first half of the year, with no less than 61.4% of the passenger cars registered in Belgium being second-hand. In June 2025, 65,296 second-hand cars were registered in Belgium. That is 3,110 more (+5.0%) than in June 2024 (62,186) and 5,342 fewer than in June 2023 (-3.3%).
Buyers more cautious
However, used car dealers are noticing that private buyers are more cautious, partly due to the geopolitical context. Today, they are more likely to postpone their purchase. UVs remain very popular, followed by city cars with gasoline engines and automatic transmission. Diesel continues to lose ground, mainly in favor of (plug-in) hybrids.
Gasoline engines account for 55.8% of the market, diesel engines for 27.4%, electrified vehicles for 16.6%, hybrid cars for 12.7%, and fully electric vehicles for 3.9%.
Old fleet
Electric cars are gradually gaining ground in the second-hand market, now accounting for 3.9% of the total, primarily due to a significant increase in the number of end-of-contract leasing cars. A good thing to give those cars a second life. On the other hand, most newly registered used cars are 15 years or older, and that is, of course, not a good thing, neither for the age of the fleet nor for the environment.
Most popular brands and models
Volkswagen and BMW dominated the list of most registered second-hand brands. The top 5 is completed by Mercedes, ahead of Peugeot and Opel.
The most popular models were the VW Golf (14,706 registered), followed by the VW Polo (10,608), Opel Corsa (9,287), BMW 3 Series (8,383), and BMW 1 Series (7,750).
A quarter of the registered second-hand cars (26.7%) are between five and nine years old, while 33.7% are less than five years old. However, a growing number os used cars are over 15 years old, which is bad news for the age of the vehicle fleet and the environment.
The second-hand market remains primarily a private market, with 90.5% of registrations made by private individuals. However, it is true that start-up companies often opt for a second-hand car, and that they are often interested in used hybrid vehicles.
//Flanders continues to dominate the market for second-hand passenger car registrations, with a share of 54.7%. Wallonia’s market share is 36.4%, while Brussels has 7.8%.
New cars
The decline in new car registrations compared to 2024 continues, with 41,527 registrations (-16.4%) for June, indicating a 10.9% decline over the first half of the year to 234,616 units. Sales started the year strongly but then slowed, partly due to geopolitical uncertainties and higher interest rates.
The proportions are clearly different for new cars, where hybrid and electric vehicles represent 70.7% of sales. The share of fully electric cars even increases from 24.1% to 32.2% in 2025. The number of diesels on the new market is barely 3.8% (5.7% last year).
