Used car sales in March 2024: Market flourishes, electric vehicles grow big

The Ford Ranger And Toyota Hilux were again the best-selling used cars in Australia in March, but electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles (EVs and PHEVs) saw significant gains.

James Voortman, CEO of the Australian Automobile Dealers Association (AADA), said: “There were 184,054 used cars sold in March, which is an impressive result considering the number of days of delivery. lost during weekends and holidays.”

“Continuous strength in new car sales has improved the supply situation in the used car market, leading to greater choice and improved affordability.

“Consumers are in a good position to shop around and negotiate a good price for a used car.”

Total used car sales increased 2.6% compared to February 2024 according to data compiled by AutoGrab and released by the AADA, although the total number of sales listings increased only 0.5%.

Electric vehicles had the strongest sales increase, next to LPG vehicles. Their sales increased 13.1% month-on-month, while LPG vehicles increased 22.4% and PHEVs increased 8.9%.

“The used electric vehicle market is gradually emerging with strong growth in the number of listings and the number of vehicles sold,” said Mr. Voortman.

“Customers in the used electric vehicle market have more bargaining power because the number of vehicles listed is much higher than the number sold.”

However, electric vehicles still make up less than 1% of the used car market, much lower than the share they achieve in the new car market.

The reduction in new car prices has had a ripple effect on the used car market and used car prices have generally decreased slightly.

Mr Voortman said: “The average time to sell a used car is now at its lowest in 12 months, which shows us that sellers are becoming more pragmatic and buyers are taking advantage lower prices for used cars.”

March data shows the average time to sell a used car is 44.2 days. This data also looks at the resale value of used cars and overall every segment saw a decrease in retained value with the exception of utes between 2-4 years old.

AADA also notes that the cars that are holding their value the best are smaller used cars like Toyota Yaris, Honda Jazz And Mazda2.

The report’s figures are based on data on the number of used and showroom vehicles offered for sale across Australia at the start of the month, compared to the number of listings taken down at the end of the month.

AADA and AutoGrab provide the following definitions:

• For sale: Extent of used and demo vehicles listed online by dealers and private sellers nationwide at the time of reporting. AutoGrab processes and deduplicates listings to identify and eliminate repetitions, ensuring that vehicles listed on multiple platforms are counted only once.
• Sales: The total number of vehicles delisted from the online marketplace, which serves as an approximate proxy for actual sales, is recorded monthly. The number of delistings also reflects unique vehicles, as AutoGrab processes and deduplicates listings to identify and remove repetitions, ensuring that vehicles listed on multiple platforms are only counted once.

Best-selling used cars

Like last month, the Ranger, HiLux and Corolla claimed the top spot.

While some orders changed slightly, all cars in the top 10 remained the same as in February.

Used car sales by state

New South Wales saw the biggest monthly increase in sales at 7.1%, while sales in the Northern Territory fell 6.2%.

Sales by vehicle type

Even though there were more SUVs for sale in March than any other vehicle type, passenger cars came out on top in terms of vehicle sales.

Revenue by fuel type

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