Used cars are holding up the Italian car market. In September, out of five cars sold, four are second-hand. New prices are unaffordable (+99% between 2003 and 2023) and therefore used cars are flying. And so the industry suffers and the fleet in circulation in Italy is increasingly older, with an average age of cars in circulation of 11 years and 8 months.
In September, 121,666 cars were registered (Ministry of Transport data) compared to 136,316 twelve months ago. It means -10.75%. The slowdown trend continues steadily. But if you look at used goods, the market here is holding up, in fact it’s doing really well. Last month saw an almost 4% increase in ownership transfers of used vehicles. Overall sales volume in September 2024 (new and used) was 565,659 units. In 78.49% of cases these are used cars.
The cost of new machines has increased so much (+38% in the last four years alone) that Italian consumers increasingly consider second-hand as their first choice. After last year’s growth (+6.6%) this year in the first six months alone the increase was 8.9% and the figure is destined to continue the rise, considering that the price of used , at the same time, fell by 4.3%. Having a used car to sell therefore currently means having a sort of significant “safe haven”.
To buy a new car in 2019 it took 21 thousand euros on average. In 2023, 29 thousand were needed. It means +38% which cannot be explained by the increase in the harmonized index of consumer prices which rose in the same four-year period, but by 16.2%, less than half. Furthermore, wages have lost 4.5% of purchasing power in ten years. In the meantime, used cars have market availability and decreasing costs. And here’s the answer: boom in used cars and collapse in new ones when it comes to cars. Obviously, in all this, electric cars, which are more expensive, remain at a standstill,
Used cars are thus the favorite for renewing the fleet of cars in circulation which, in Italy, is increasingly older. The average age of vehicles on our roads (Facile.it analysis) in September reached 11 years and 8 months, 3% more than a year ago. This directly affects the insurance premium. For a car with an average age of 10 years, the cost of car liability insurance is around 206 euros, while it increases to 228 euros for 12-year-old vehicles and reaches up to 284 euros when the vehicle reaches 14 years. This represents an increase of 38% over a four-year period. The oldest cars in Italy are found in Basilicata, with an average age of 13 years and 9 months, followed by Molise, Calabria and Sicily, all with cars over 13 years old. Sardinia is just below (13 years and 1 month). The “youngest” cars circulate in Tuscany (average of 10 years and 7 months). Followed by Lombardy, Lazio, Emilia-Romagna and Piedmont.
