Stable prices and increased sales - despite the economic crisis

Sales of used cars are increasing again. The third quarter was the best in two years. At the same time, prices have stabilized – at record high levels.

Inflation, high interest rates and increased exports continue to drive demand for used cars. In the third quarter, prices did fall by a marginal 0.7 percent, but this followed three consecutive quarters of rising prices, which means that the price level is still the second highest ever.

Diesel up, the rest drains

The prices of diesel cars rose by 3.2 percent, while other fuel categories showed a decline. The biggest price reduction was seen in petrol cars (-10.2%), followed by plug-in hybrids (-1.6%) and electric cars (-0.6%).

- The decline for petrol cars follows an unexpectedly strong rise during the second quarter and you have to bear in mind that we continue to see historically high price levels, says our sales manager Daniel Odsberg. When it comes to electric cars, we see a stabilization after the big price drop last year. The price correction on electric cars has been significant, but it now appears that the price level is where buyers believe it should be.

Since the inflation crisis started in the spring of 2022, prices have increased by 8.7 percent, and it is above all the fossil fuel stock that is behind the increase. Petrol cars have increased by 9.1 percent and diesel cars by 6.6 percent. Plug-in hybrids, on the other hand, have experienced a decline of 2.3 percent, while electric cars have lost a whopping 13 percent.

Highest sales figure in two years

A total of 323,846 used cars were sold during the third quarter, divided between the car trade, the private market and companies. That represents an increase of 3.9 percent compared to the same period last year, and marks the strongest quarter since the third quarter of 2021.

- In economically worse times, it is natural that people look for cheaper alternatives to reduce the monthly cost, and then they prefer to choose a used car. Now we see this increase we have been talking about for so long, says Daniel Odsberg.

Odsberg believes that sales can continue to increase. In addition to economic drivers, he sees opportunities in the fact that more new cars are now being delivered.

- The new car market continues to face challenges, especially on the private side. But recently, registrations have increased, especially from businesses. It is about cars that were ordered over a year ago when the order books were well filled. The cars are now being delivered and that will mean more exchanges and an improved range on the second-hand market, says Daniel Odbserg, sales manager Kvdbil.

In recent quarters, electric cars and plug-in hybrids have shown slightly lower sales growth than we were previously used to. But in the third quarter, growth returned to more normal levels. Plug-in hybrids increased by 85.5 percent and electric cars by 85.4 percent.

Increased sales were registered in 15 out of 21 counties. The biggest increase was in Stockholm County (+10.9%), Jönköping County (+7.8%) and Halland (+7.1%). Exports were slightly lower than in the second quarter, but compared to the same period a year ago, the increase is noticeable, with a whopping 26.3 percent more cars sold abroad.

Volvo V70 back on its throne

After two quarters where more Volkswagen Golfs were sold than Volvo V70s, the V70 regains the title as Sweden's best-selling used car. During the third quarter, over 15,300 Volvo V70s were sold, compared to around 14,900 copies of the Volkswagen Golf. The Volkswagen Passat retains third place on the list with around 10,600 cars sold.

Sales statistics for the used market, Q3 2023

About the compilation
Kvdbil's statistics on used car purchases in Sweden are obtained from the Swedish Vehicle Registry via the statistics company Vroom. The price development is based on sales at kvdbil.se (around 20,000 per year) and is measured by the BPI (Car Price Index) of the sister company bilpriser.se .