ROME – The prices of used cars in Europe have stabilized, after the sharp rises in the years of the pandemic and the chip crisis and the record drop recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022. This is what the Auto1 Group Price Index highlights, a report on prices of used cars in the Old Continent by Auto1 Group SE, the digital automotive platform for buying and selling cars online.
“The prices of used cars increased over the course of last year – commented Francesco Rocchi, director of sales & remarketing Italy of Auto1 Group – before suffering a sudden collapse in the fourth quarter of 2022. We expected a gradual and slow decline in prices, instead we have witnessed a sudden and sudden decrease. The increase in used car prices that lasted over a year was practically absorbed within a few weeks. In the first quarter of 2023, however, we observe a more stable environment, with prices slightly increasing by 1% from January to March”.
The data collected traces the stages of used car prices, which have undergone a substantial increase for several consecutive quarters starting from April 2021. Wholesale prices peaked in July 2022 with an Index value of 171.6 . Used car prices increased throughout 2021 and 2022 due to several key factors, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, semiconductor shortages and therefore shortages and long lead times for new cars, as well as a general influence of inflation.
After peaking in July 2022, prices fell in the steepest decline since the Index’s inception in 2015, with wholesale prices falling by 11.8% during the fourth quarter. in fact, the index fell from 171.6 in July 2022 to 151.3 at the end of December 2022.
Data in hand, the Auto1 Group report indicates that, after the sharp drop in prices in the fourth quarter of 2022, the backdrop for used car wholesale prices in the first quarter of 2023 has stabilized. The Auto1 Group Price Index decreased from January to February by 0.1%, from 149.3 to 149.1. With the most recent data, then, the same index went from 149.1 in February to 150.9 in March, with an increase of 1.2%. Overall, prices increased slightly by 1% from January to March.