Used alternative powertrains account for one in four European used car sales says INDICATA Market Watch report

When looking at the bigger picture across Europe, alternative powertrains—BEVs, MHEVs, and PHEVs combined—still only make up 24.22% of sales according to the latest INDICATA Market Watch report.

While consumers are gradually moving away from traditional engines, there’s no widespread agreement on which alternative powertrain is the best choice.

Petrol-powered cars have been the biggest winners in August, with petrol’s market share increasing to 46.87% as diesel continues to lose ground. This shows the overall decline in diesel’s popularity is driven by the passenger car market, where its share slipped to 28.92%, down by 4.7% from the previous month.

We also see a mixed picture when it comes to manufacturer-backed sales. Across all the European markets we cover, the sale of nearly new used cars (under a year old) was down by 1.03% in August compared to the previous month, but these sales are still up by 10.32% year-on-year.

Countries, including Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, The Netherlands, and Sweden, all saw a monthly increase in these tactical sales of predominantly BEVs supported by manufacturers, bucking the overall trend.

These nearly new vehicle sales are having a noticeable effect on the overall powertrain mix. In the online B2C market for used passenger cars up to four years old, diesel’s share has fallen to 17.56%. Diesel’s share is even lower for cars up to two years old, at just 12.31%.

In this category, MHEVs were second behind petrol with a 17.33% share, followed by PHEV/HEVs at 15.09%, while BEVs are seeing their gap to diesel closing with a 10.94% share.

It is worth noting that BEVs saw prices increase marginally in August, but the general trend is still likely to remain downward. The movement across the four remaining powertrains aligns with general price reductions.

August is generally a quiet month for sales, so dealers and traders typically do not make significant price movements. However, during September, we may see further price movements of a larger scale, especially for BEVs, where the levels of online B2C retail stock combined with wholesale BEV stock continue to put deflationary pressure on prices.