Van Mossel, a major player in the automotive sector and acting as a dealer for 32 car brands, is proud to announce the official opening of its brand-new Used Cars Center in Lokeren.
“This impressive branch is immediately the largest indoor used car center in Belgium, with a range of more than 300 carefully selected cars under one roof.” Is it, and can it really outshine the ‘inventor of the used car supermarket in Belgium’, Cardoen? The latter claims 900 cars at its major store in Antwerp, for instance.
Let’s dig in somewhat deeper
The new Van Mossel showroom, located at Brandstraat 20 in Lokeren, boasts a permanent stock of 300 cars on display. “To celebrate this milestone, Van Mossel organizes a festive opening weekend from 25 to 27 September with numerous activities.”
In the press release, Van Mossel emphasizes some key advantages for the customer, phrased as follows: “Every vehicle is thoroughly checked and prepared to the highest standards so that customers can choose with confidence.”
“In addition to sales, Van Mossel also offers all financing options: from classic balloon financing to private lease and business lease formulas. Thanks to a one-stop-shop concept and a strong local anchoring, mobility becomes simple, transparent, and carefree. In addition, customers can have the vehicle delivered to a branch of their choice, which provides extra proximity and unburdening.”
Sounding familiar?
It pretty much sounds like what Cardoen is touting in ads, as you can expect from a primary secondhand car dealer. Cardoen calls itself a “car supermarket”, implying a wide selection, one-stop experience, and a supermarket-style approach to buying cars.
Cardoen emphasizes offering both new and refurbished/used cars, more than a thousand across 25 makes. And on its website, it depicts its flagship store in Antwerp as “The gigantic 7,500 m² showroom … with a permanent stock of 900 cars.”
Like the Colruyt food supermarkets in Belgium, they guarantee the lowest price: “If you see the same car cheaper elsewhere at an authorized dealer, they will match or reimburse the difference.” They compare their cars weekly with those at authorized dealers in Belgium to maintain that guarantee.
Part of Aramis Group
Cardoen was originally a family business founded by Albert Cardoen in 1949, and later led by Karel Cardoen. In 2015, Karel Cardoen sold around 65 % of the company to a private equity fund called KeBeK. In 2018, the remaining shares (held by Karel Cardoen and KeBeK) were sold to Aramis Group (France).
That one is a giant on its own. Aramis is a European player, present in six countries, operating under different brands that specialize in the online, multi-brand purchase and sale of used and refurbished cars. In FY 2024, Aramis reported approximately €2.2 billion in sales and sold 112,000 vehicles to individuals.
Van Mossel’s explosive growth
The origins of Van Mossel Automotive Group trace back to 1947, when W.B.J. ‘Wim’ van Mossel founded Automobielbedrijf W.B.J. van Mossel in the Netherlands, in Den Bosch. In the first decades, Van Mossel was merely a Volkswagen dealer, adding Audi later. Today, it sells 32 car brands.
In 1988, Eric Berkhof, then a younger employee, took over the company leadership, transitioning it into a more growth-oriented enterprise. He’s still running the show today and is responsible for the group’s explosive growth.
Van Mossel Belux was established in 2019, primarily through the acquisition of existing car dealerships in Belgium and Luxembourg that had served those markets for many decades. Today, Van Mossel BeLux manages more than 60 dealerships and repair shops across Belgium and Luxembourg.
The group now claims to employ 10,645 people and has 558 branches across 342 locations in multiple countries. The group sells over 185,000 new and used cars annually across its network, with an annual revenue of € 8.5 billion in total operations (new, used, leasing, services).
Some 91,000 units were secondhand on the group level in a recent year, according to the group’s ‘Facts and Figures’. Cardoen’s parent company, Aramis, claims 112,000 individual sales in 2024 groupwide (all markets). So who is the biggest? In the end, it’s all about how you crunch the numbers.
Huge Belgian secondhand car market
Belgium is one of Europe’s largest car markets, after the usual suspects: Germany, the UK, Italy, France, Spain, and recently, Poland. In 2024, used car registrations surpassed new car registrations in Belgium, with 727,650 vehicles changing hands (including both professional and privately sold cars) versus 456,278 new cars registered.
The used car market is big business in Belgium. India-based Modor Intelligence, which operates globally as a market research & advisory firm, estimates the Belgian secondhand car market at around USD 17.07 billion (€14.5 billion) in 2025.
There are more big car groups focusing on used cars in Belgium than Van Mossel and Cardoen. Dex markets itself with a “+1,000 cars directly deliverable” positioning. Hedin Automotive states they have “more than 500 used cars in stock” in Belgium.
A&M Group has more than 2,000 cars (new + used) in stock as per their own site. And there are the major car manufacturers’ secondhand outlets, like Volkswagen’s MyWay, which has 1,556 vehicles listed under their ‘used stock’ portal, to mention just one of them.
There are no exact figures available for the current Belgian stock of used cars for sale. If professionals sell around 700,000 used cars per year, and the average professional stock turnover is 2 to 3 times per year, then an estimate of around 300,000 used cars in professional stock at any given time is plausible.
Enough to choose from?
