Most of the cars on the secondary market of the European Union, in contrast to the Ukrainian realities, are sold by dealers — car dealerships, car dealerships, car yards and other companies that professionally trade used cars. The carVertical company surveyed its car dealer customers from Italy (63 companies), France (61 dealers) and Poland (54 sellers) and presented the results. The team of the Institute of Car Market Research selected the most interesting, translated the research into Ukrainian and publishes the main conclusions.
Average age and car prices
The vast majority of used cars sold by car dealers belong to two age categories: 3-5 years (50%) and 6-9 years (33%). Older cars (10+ years old) make up only 13% of all cars sold. At the same time, the share of cars in the "almost new" category (1-2 years old) is also small: about 7%. In general, the average age of all cars sold by the surveyed car dealers was 6.1 years.
At the same time, there are significant differences in the average cost of cars. French buyers prefer more expensive cars (average price 30,000 euros ) compared to Polish buyers (average price there was 21,300 euros). Italians, who usually prefer smaller cars, had the lowest prices — the average price there was 17,400 euros.
How much time does it take to sell one car?
In most cases, dealers manage to sell the car within 1 month (35%). In 28% of cases, it is possible to find a buyer faster, in 1-3 weeks. And sometimes you have to wait 2-3 months (also in 28% of cases).
The difference in the three analyzed car markets turned out to be insignificant, but French dealers usually sell cars more slowly — in an average of 5.6 weeks. Which seems logical given the highest average car price there.
At the same time, Polish car dealers sell faster (in an average of 4.9 weeks ) than Italian ones (in an average of 5.3 weeks ), despite the fact that the latter deal with cheaper cars.
Where do car dealers buy cars?
The results of the survey about the places where car dealers buy cars for further sale turned out to be interesting. The most common were direct purchases from private individuals and businesses, including within the trade-in service. However, there are certain differences between countries.
Yes, almost half of French car dealers ( 48% ) buy cars from authorized dealers, another 38% buy them at online auctions.
In Poland, the interest in online auctions is even greater : this was stated by 61% of local sellers of used cars. 46% of car dealers from Italy also informed about the regular purchase of cars at online auctions.
At the same time, in both Italy and Poland, used car dealers also buy from authorized dealers, just to a lesser extent — 41% and 26%, respectively.
Where do car dealers sell used cars?
When it comes to selling, the French and Italians are again reluctant to use online auctions, while they are the most popular method of finding a buyer for Polish car dealerships ( 69% of companies surveyed).
On the other hand, French and Italian car dealerships actively use online marketplaces ( 86% and 73% of enterprises, respectively).
It is interesting that Italy is the only one of the three countries where the majoritydealers still prefer physical car markets, which are used by 67% of respondents. In France, interest in this method of sale is significantly lower: only 23% of French car dealers mentioned it. In Poland, offline auto-markets as such are not at all interesting to car dealers: only 2% of respondents sell cars there.
From which countries are used cars exported and imported?
The advantage of the member countries of the European Union is a single economic zone and the opportunity to trade with each other without paying additional taxes. Thus, the EU is actually one big car market, where dealers actively exchange cars, moving them between countries.
Thus, 80% of the surveyed French car dealers buy cars in other countries. In Poland, the share is somewhat lower ( 70% ), and Italian dealers buy cars from other countries the least ( 56% ).
Instead, Polish used car dealers sell to other countries the most — 59% of them. Italians ( 48% of surveyed dealers) and French ( 43% ) also sell cars abroad.
It is also interesting to look at the countries from which European car dealers buy cars with mileage. Predictably, Germany took first place, but somewhat unexpectedly, Belgium took second place.
- France : 72% buy in Germany, 49% from Belgium
- Italy : 46% from Germany, 22% from Belgium
- Poland : 48% from Germany, 35% from Belgium
The Netherlands, Sweden, Italy, Austria, France and Spain were among other popular countries for buying used cars.
Polish car dealers provide more information to their buyers
As the results of the survey show, there are significant differences in sales approaches between Polish car dealers and their counterparts from France and Italy.
For example, the vast majority of car dealers in Poland:
- They offer their customers a test drive (87%)
- Allow buyers to carry out a technical inspection (83%)
- Include detailed information (including visuals) in their ads (70%)
- Provide a vehicle history report (62%)
Only a small number of French and Italian car dealerships offer any of the above services to their customers. For example, only 6% of Italian car dealerships provide a vehicle history report to their customers and 9% in France.
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