Which European used-car markets are performing the best so far in 2025?
12 November 2025
At the end of the third quarter, all of Europe’s big five automotive markets saw used-car transactions grow. However, two countries are in danger of seeing growth turn to decline. Autovista24 special content editor Phil Curry examines the latest data.
Used-car transactions in Spain, Italy, the UK, Germany and France all saw growth in the third quarter of the year. As the big-five European markets report mixed fortunes in the new-car market, their used-car sectors performed more solidly.
The results also highlight that there is still demand for new petrol and diesel models. This is despite both powertrains suffering widespread declines in new-car markets. Where powertrain breakdowns were available, internal-combustion engine (ICE) transactions continued to dominate.
Between January and September, all the big five used-car markets were up year on year. However, while some are coasting towards a full-year improvement, others are seeing results balanced on a knife-edge. For France and Germany, a poor fourth quarter could result in used-car transactions dropping across the whole of 2025.
Spain bounces back
Spain’s used-car market bounced back in the third quarter. Transactions were up by 7.4% according to Autovista24 calculations based on available data from GANVAM.
July saw 193,933 sales, resulting in an 8.6% improvement based on analysis of available data. Like other major used-car markets, August was Spain’s weakest month, with 144,228 transactions taking place, which was up by 1.7%. September proved to be the best month of the quarter, with 182,488 used cars changing hands, an 11.1% rise.
Spain is currently the best-performing of Europe’s big five new and used-car markets. After a poor second quarter, July to September provided a strong performance to further boost year-to-date totals.
In that period, used-car transactions improved by 4.4%, based on Autovista24 analysis. In total, 1,548,388 sales took place. While volumes were lower, year-on-year growth was the best of the big five.
Diesel dominates the market
Diesel remained the most popular used powertrain in Spain, according to GANVAM. In the first nine months of 2025, 810,120 transactions for the fuel type took place, a decrease of 0.2%.
Petrol was the second-best performing fuel type. In total, 582,426 used units were sold, a rise of 4.5%.
In terms of market share, diesel held 52.3% of Spain’s used-car market between January and September, according to Autovista24 calculations. Petrol was some way behind, accounting for 37.6% of transactions. Together, ICE models dominated, with 89.9% of the market.
However, battery-electric vehicle (BEV) sales have improved rapidly, with a 50.5% growth in the first nine months of the year, according to GANVAM. In total, 20,169 sales took place in the period, equating to a share of 1.3%.
‘The data demonstrates that the used-car market is an effective way for consumers to embrace electromobility; a trend that would accelerate by including electric vehicles up to 36 months old in demand incentive programs,’ GANVAM stated.
Older cars pose a problem
GANVAM’s data shows that cars aged between one and three years accounted for a quarter of sales in September. These volumes rose by 16% in the month. Meanwhile, models over 15 years old saw their growth rate slow to 6%. However, they represented four out of every 10 transactions.
‘The prevalence of these models, over 15 years old, in the used-car market demonstrates the urgent need to implement a scrappage incentive program to accelerate progress toward decarbonisation goals,’ GANVAM stated.
‘Industry associations argue that focusing the decarbonisation strategy solely on electrification, without accompanying it with realistic solutions for removing the oldest and most polluting vehicles, is ineffective, especially considering that 25% of the current vehicle fleet is over 20 years old,’ the association concluded.
Italy looks to used cars
While Italy’s new-car market is struggling, its used-car sector has been strong across the first nine months of 2025. The third quarter proved to be the best so far for the market in terms of growth.
According to data from ANFIA, 1,295,898 transactions took place between July and September. This represented a 6.2% improvement.
July was the highest volume month, with 504,837 units changing hands. This was a 5.5% rise year on year. August was more stable, with a 0.8% improvement, as 302,501 transactions took place.
In terms of growth, September was the best month of the year so far. With 488,560 sales, volumes were up by 10.6%, according to ANFIA data. This was a jump of 46,743 passenger cars compared to the same month in 2024.
Between January and September, 4,144,412 cars changed hands, a 4% rise year on year. In contrast, the country’s new-car market experienced a 2.9% decline in the same period.
UK remains largest used-car market
The UK’s used-car market grew by 2.8% in the third quarter of 2025, as 2,021,265 models changed hands. This gave it the highest quarterly volume total of the European big five.
The latest figures from the SMMT suggest the July to September period was the best third quarter since 2021. It also marked an 11th consecutive quarter of growth, as a healthy new-car market has enabled strong supply.
July proved to be the best month, with 693,512 transactions, a 3.7% rise year on year. In total, 24,622 more cars changed hands in the period. August saw a 1.4% increase in sales, with 678,945 transactions.
Despite being a plate-change month in the new-car market, September continued the trend of being the lowest-volume used-car month of the quarter. Only 648,808 units changed hands in the month. However, this was still up 3.4% year on year.
Overall, the third quarter was the strongest of the year so far. Between January and September, 6,038,371 transactions took place, a rise of 2.4%.
Petrol remains on top
Petrol remained the best-selling powertrain in the used-car market during the quarter. 1,145,148 units were sold, a rise of 1.9% compared to the same period in 2024.
Diesel transactions fell 2.8% between July and September, with 658,664 sales. Despite this fall, the figures suggest there is still an appetite for the fuel type. The result is in stark contrast to the new-car market, where just 24,934 units were registered in the quarter, a 20.7% decline.
This registration decline is likely due to limited offerings from carmakers as the technology continues to fall out of favour. While enabling longer distance driving, many drivers look to the used-car market for their diesel models.
However, the supply of newer models to the used-car market has dropped as registration numbers have fallen. Therefore, many of these transactions are likely coming from older vehicles. This will increase the UK’s car parc age, which currently stands at 9.5 years on average. This has risen from an average of eight years old in 2019.
In total, 89.2% of all used cars changing hands in the third quarter were powered purely by ICE. This was down slightly year on year.
Records for EVs
Full hybrids saw a 30% rise year on year. With 107,727 transactions, the technology increased its used-car market share to 5.3% of the total. Plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) also had a good quarter, with a 2% rise to 23,480 units and a 1.2% market share.
However, BEVs were the fastest-growing powertrain. It was the fourth best-selling powertrain in the UK used-car market with 80,614 transactions. This was up 44.4% year on year, with one in 25 buyers going all electric, meaning a 4% market share.
While this is a record figure for BEVs, the low share highlights early market penetration. Buyers may be interested in new models, but older all-electric vehicles are struggling to inspire. With early battery technology, shorter ranges and possibly depleted energy storage, used BEVs must make a good value-for-money proposition.
Germany finds stability
Germany’s used-car market has been on a rollercoaster ride in 2025, much like the country’s new-car registrations. A 1% increase in the third quarter meant that transactions remained stable in the first nine months of the year.
In the three-month period, 1,678,257 used cars changed hands. This was the strongest quarter of 2025 so far, in terms of both volume and growth. It will likely provide a boost going into the final stretch of the year.
According to data from the KBA, July was the strongest volume month in the quarter. In total, 603,736 cars were sold, a 1.9% rise compared to July 2024.
However, August’s 4.4% drop illustrated the country’s automotive struggles. The 514,422 transactions also marked a low point in the year and were down 23,892 units on the same month last year.
September provided a rebound, with 560,399 sales helping towards a 5.6% improvement in volumes. The 29,594-unit growth helped to eliminate the deficit from August.
The result meant that between January and September, 4,952,038 used cars changed hands. This was a 0.5% improvement compared to the same period last year. This stability was mirrored in the country’s new-car market, which experienced a small 0.3% decline in the same nine months.
France finds stability in used-car market
Like Germany, the French used-car market is in a precarious position. However, recent results suggest the market could have a better end to 2025.
According to AAA Data, 1,319,676 used-car transactions took place between July and September. This was a 0.6% improvement on the same period in 2024.
The third quarter is historically the lowest-volume quarter of the year, incorporating the slower summer month of August. Yet the performance provided some positivity for the country’s struggling automotive market.
July was the worst-performing month of the period, with 489,174 transactions equating to a 3.2% decline year on year. This was the second-worst monthly performance of 2025, after June, with a loss of 16,350 units year on year. However, August saw the market stabilise with a 0.2% improvement and 373,988 sales.
September helped pull the used-car sector back into growth for the quarter. Volumes rose by 5.3% thanks to 456,514 transactions. This was a difference of 22,810 units, helping to overcome July’s deficit.
New-car registrations fell by 1.8% in the third quarter, the smallest quarterly decline of the year. Having endured a run of poor results, both August and September saw the country’s market return to growth.
Across the first three quarters of 2025, the French used-car sector was up by 0.8%, with 4,036,917 transactions taking place.
Ageing used-car sector
AAA Data attributes the strong September performance to a rise in the popularity of models over 10 years of age. Transactions in this age group were up by 11%, according to the association.
This partially covers the shortage of younger used cars. The supply of newer models has been impacted by a struggling new-car market in four of the last five years.
This was highlighted in the July and August figures from AAA Data. Models less than five years old recorded declines of 15% and 8% respectively. Conversely, sales of cars over 10 years old were up 6% in July and 7% in August.
It is unlikely that supply will increase anytime soon. From January to September, the country’s new-car market dropped by 6.3%.
BEV acceleration but diesel dominates
Another trend in France is the acceleration of used BEV transactions. Transaction volumes of the powertrain improved by 27% in August, according to AAA Data.
This increased to a 44% rise in September. Its market share jumped to 4%, up by one percentage point month on month.
However, diesel still dominated France’s used-car sector. It captured44% of transactions in August, while petrol took a 40% market share.
In May, the French parliament voted to abolish low-emission zones. However, this is yet to be approved, with both houses of Parliament required to pass the law. In addition, it must also be validated by the Constitutional Council.
This may help the continued dominance of petrol and diesel models. With no requirement to switch to a low, or zero-emission model for urban driving, buyers have more freedom of choice. This means less incentive to switch to a more environmentally-friendly model.
