The Automotive Update: Used Vehicle Retail Summit and regional EV sales
23 April 2026
What are the big takeaways from the Used Vehicle Retail Summit? Which electric vehicle (EV) markets stood out in the latest EV Volumes data? Tom Geggus, Autovista24 editor, investigates in the Automotive Update podcast.
In this episode, Autovista24 unpacks the Used Vehicle Retail Summit, with insights from journalist Tom Hooker. Plus, analysis of global EV sales results from China, Europe and Australia.
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Exploring used vehicle retail
This year’s Used Vehicle Retail Summit explored the past, present, and future state of the retail sector. The event focused on EVs and how an influx of plug-in vehicles entering the used-car market can be handled.
Key topics included EV adoption trends and changing consumer expectations, plus retail’s digital acceleration. Other important considerations included operational optimisation, plus building confidence in battery-electric vehicle (BEV) resale.
New dealer strategies, cross-border sales and battery state of health (SoH) reports all emerged as keenly discussed issues.
EV retail focus
Surging used EV sales were a major talking point. Speakers highlighted the significance of dealers cementing their EV strategy as soon as possible. This includes calming consumers’ EV concerns with SoH data and exploring battery repair instead of replacement.
For consumers, the average car-buying journey is shortening. This may be a result of more online-based purchasing processes and an increase in AI-powered research. Used-vehicle buyers are also demonstrating higher brand switching behaviour than new-car buyers, speakers revealed.
Overall, a mix of online and in-person channels is now the preferred buying process. Information gathering is now largely digital, yet viewing the vehicle still needs to be in-person for many. Speakers identified opportunities to improve the buying journey, as technology can be used to help. However, personal relationships still play a critical role.
Easing retail consumer concerns
Within an evolving buying process for consumers, dealers, and certified pre-owned portals, more battery health data is now available. To make this easy to understand for buyers, some portals are recalculating vehicle range using SoH reports.
Meanwhile, cross-border sales are a notable opportunity to boost dealer profitability, something which is particularly apparent for BEVs. One speaker highlighted that all-electric cars could see significant fluctuations, with cycles as short as 60 days in one market.
Declining EV sales
According to data from EV Volumes, BEV and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) sales declined across major new-car markets in February. China was a major influencer of this trend as it saw EV sales fall year on year. Nearly half of all new EV sales took place in the country across the first two months of 2026.
The US new EV market also fell between January and February. Conversely, some European countries, such as Germany and the UK, saw BEV and PHEV sales increase. Meanwhile, the Australian new EV market continued to grow.
