Used Car Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

Used Car Market - Growth, Trends, COVID-19 Impact, and Forecasts (2022 - 2027)

The used car market was valued at USD 250 billion in 2020, and it is anticipated to reach USD 403 billion by 2026, at a CAGR of more than 10% during the forecast period.

The outbreak of COVID-19 and the subsequent shutdowns have affected the market in both ways, wherein the first half of 2020, the sales were affected by lockdowns, but the market witnessed huge growth in the latter part of the year.

The used car market across the world is growing rapidly. The main reason for the same has been the advent of organized players in the market in developing nations, which has taken care of the trust deficit, plaguing the used car market in those countries for ages.

Additional factors, such as a rise in income levels, increasing demand for luxury cars, shorter car ownership periods, booming import-export, and a growing preference of two-wheeler owners to upgrade to small and compact cars, drive the growth of the market.

However, a lack of financing or expensive financing options in many countries for used cars is expected to hinder the growth of the market. While finance for new cars is easy to obtain, used cars attract a higher rate of interest and are not sanctioned so easily. However, with the gradual growth in the organized sector, the market situation is changing. Major players, like Toyota, BMW, Maruti Suzuki, etc., have ventured into the used-car space in India.

The market in emerging economies such as India is currently dominated by unorganized players who do not own an inventory but rather thrive on their own platform for C2C sales. They make revenue through commissions earned by facilitating the sale of used cars on their online platforms. But slowly and steadily, the organized and semi-organized sectors are catching up and are expected to occupy a considerable sale towards the end of the forecast period. The Asia Pacific region is expected to be the largest market, followed by North America and Europe.

Key Market TrendsStrengthening of Online Infrastructure is Positively Affecting the Used Cars Market

As the smartphone and internet penetration in emerging economies, especially in Asia-Pacific, is increasing, the used car market is getting more organized because used car retailers are using digitalization to make market offerings attractive. Facilities such as an enormous number of photos and videos on the online platform and easy online instant finance service are drawing more customers into buying used cars.

In the North American market, where the used car sale to new car sale ratio is almost 2 to 1, many new players such as Fair and Vroom are using artificial intelligence and big data analytics to differentiate their brand and offerings from conventional used car dealers. Major OEMs are now investing in the used car segment to ramp up their revenues.

Tech-savvy customers in the age group of 25-40 years are demanding features such as end-to-end transaction, doorstep delivery, digitalized recommendation on the basis of driving behavior and lifestyle of customer and digitalized test drives. Players in the market are providing flawless and smooth access to car specifications, performance reports, and inventory information to customers to assist them in making informed decisions.

Mercedes-Benz is using blockchain technology to store and maintain the maintenance history record of the carbon footprint of used cars in Beijing. 35% of a car’s carbon footprint comes from the manufacturer. Mercedes-Benz and PlatON are planning to store the entire lifecycle data of a vehicle.

Asia-Pacific is the Fastest Growing Market

China currently has more than 300 million registered vehicles. This is expected to become a large used vehicle inventory for the world in the near future. With an increasing focus on EVs and autonomous vehicles in the country, China is planning to sell its registered vehicles to those countries where emission and safety norms are lenient. In May 2019, ten Chinese cities were granted permission to export used cars by the country’s Ministry of Commerce. A Chinese company in Guangzhou recently exported nearly 300 used cars to Cambodia, Myanmar, Nigeria, and Russia. The import-export business of used cars is also prominent in Europe, with France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Netherlands, and Portugal being the major countries for this business.

The used car market in India is expected to grow at a rate close to 15% over the next five years. Online classified platform OLX expects the used car market to reach the USD 25 billion mark by 2023. Millennials are considered as the factor driving the used car market in India. Millennials in India are tech-savvy and are focusing on the resale value of the vehicle rather than size and brand.

Over the years, the used car market has evolved in the country, with the growth of the organized and semi-organized sectors. Currently, the sale of used cars is 1.3 times that of new cars in the country, and the ratio is expected to reach 2:1 in the next five years.

One of the key growth drivers in the market is the revision of the Goods & Services Tax (GST) rate on used cars from 28% - 43% to 12% - 18%, based on the make and build. As the Indian auto industry is entering the BS-VI era from April 2020, the value proposition of the used car can grow stronger, as new cars are expected to become expensive due to additional technology costs.

Competitive Landscape

The market for global used cars is fragmented. Major global players have the edge over other smaller players due to their superior business models and increased number of pre-owned car retail outlets. However, the market is dominated by small and unorganized regional players who are present in most of the nations. The growing organized and semi-organized sector is expected to bring in more revenue to the bigger organized players toward the latter half of the forecast period, thus, moving the market ever slightly towards a consolidated one.

Additional Benefits:

• The market estimate (ME) sheet in Excel format
• 3 months of analyst support

Companies Mentioned

Cox Automotive
Hertz Car Sales
PenskeCars
Emil Frey
Pendragon PLC
Arnold Clark
Carro
Maruti True Value
Mahindra First Choice Wheels
CarMax
AutoNation
Asbury Automotive Group

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