Traxio: ‘Belgian used car market continues to grow’

In October 2024, 67,201 second-hand cars were registered, an increase of +9.9% compared to last year and +26.3% more than in October 2022. The figures for the first ten months of 2024 show continued growth in second-hand car registrations: +6.5% between 2023 and 2024 and +14.9% between 2022 and 2024.

According to Mobility Federation Traxio, the two main explanations for continuous growth are the abundant second-hand market supply and the continued price drop.

Downward trend

On the other hand, new vehicle registrations decreased: in October, 36,447 new cars were registered, or -5.5% compared to October 2023, which had 38,560 registrations. The first ten months of 2024 show a slightly downward trend (-4,9%). Compared to the figures for 2022, those for 2024 represent a striking increase (+26,1%).

Volkswagen and BMW were the dominating used car brands during the first ten months of 2024. Mercedes completed the top five, ahead of Opel and Peugeot. The most popular models in October remained the VW Golf (24.991), followed by the VW Polo (17.730), Opel Corsa (15.936), BMW 3 Series (13.685), and BMW 1 Series (12.621).

Gasoline

Gasoline engines still dominate among used cars, with a 55.1% market share, while diesel is losing ground to 31.0%. This trend is even more apparent for new diesel vehicles, where the market share halved from 8.6% in 2023 to 5.4% in October 2024.

The share of hybrid and electric vehicles continues to increase, even if this increase remains modest. Of the 100 registered cars, just over 13 are plug-ins, including 80% hybrid plug-ins (about 10.4%) and 20% fully electric (about 3%).

Hybrid and electric vehicles account for the largest share of new passenger car registrations. This share is driven by leasing and fleet purchases.

Relatively old fleet of used cars

In October 2024, the median age of used vehicles will be 7 years and 10 months, which is relatively old. However, 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 – 33% of registered second-hand cars are less than five years old.

The second-hand market remains mainly private (90%), while the share of commercial vehicles in the second-hand market was 10% for the first eight months of 2024.

Start-ups often opt for a second-hand or used hybrid car. Flanders continues to dominate the market for second-hand passenger car registrations (55%), while Wallonia’s and Brussels’ market share is 37% and 8%, respectively.