Why are used car sales soaring in Spain, surpassing pre-pandemic levels?
So far this year, some 1,596,627 second-hand vehicles have been sold across the country
A. Noguerol
Madrid
Thursday, 9 October 2025, 20:15
The second-hand vehicle market in Spain is consolidating with sales that exceed historical figures and double the sales of new vehicles. According to data from industry associations Ganvam (distributors) and Faconauto (dealers), sales of used cars and SUVs rose by 7.2% in September, reaching 182,488 units.
So far this year, some 1,596,627 second-hand cars have been sold - an increase of 5.2%. At this rate, the second-hand market will stand at 2.2 million units sold by the end of 2025, 5% above pre-pandemic levels. Currently, the ratio is 1.9 second-hand vehicles sold for every new car.
Analysis by age shows a polarisation in the market. On the one hand, the pull of pre-owned vehicles is strong: models between one and three years old experienced a rise in sales of more than 16% in September. Cars of up to five years now account for 25% of total sales.
However, the problem of sustainability persists. Models over 15 years of age are still leaders on the market, accounting for more than four out of ten used car sales. This, coupled with the fact that 25% of the fleet on the road is more than 20 years old, underlines the need for a scrappage incentive scheme to remove older and polluting vehicles from the roads.
Diesel drops, electric vehicles rise
The decarbonisation trend, although slow in the new car market, is strongly reflected in the second-hand market.
Diesel sales (which still account for 50% of the total) has shown a slight drop of 0.2% so far this year.
Second-hand electric car sales soared with 50.5% up to September and 20,169 units sold.
Sales of used plug-in hybrids (petrol) also increased significantly, by 38.3%.
Associations state that the second-hand market is an "effective way" of bringing electric vehicles closer to people. They suggest including electric vehicles of up to 36 months of age in incentive schemes to further accelerate this trend.
By region, Madrid stands out, with an increase of 43.8% of sales in September. In the year-to-date report, sales in Madrid rose by 18.3%, making it the region with the highest growth.
Also noteworthy is the increase in sales of imported models (up 30% compared to September 2024), with vehicles between eight and ten years old at the head of these imports.
