With the close of the third quarter comes time for assessment. In the used-car sector, the summer period was rather positive. More than 1,319,000 transactions were completed, a slight improvement over last year. And the main brands came out on top. Used-car resales were dynamic in the third quarter.
Will the autumn harvest be favourable for the used-car market? In any case, summer bore fruit. The third-quarter balance sheet turned positive for many indicators. Indeed, between early July and late September, nearly 1,319,700 transactions were carried out, across all channels.
Such a performance places this third quarter among the better vintages, compared with previous years. In fact, such a result had not been reached since the end of the pandemic and the buying frenzy of 2021. At that time, the country was operating at a pace of 1.457 million used-car resales over the summer. The record was set in 2020 when, between two lockdowns, 1.697 million cars changed hands.
The Top 10 Managed to Turn the Tide
This growth momentum does not come solely from new references beginning to feed the fleet. The ten brands that can be considered the most influential in recent years benefited from the dynamic, beyond the general trend.
Considering Renault, Peugeot, Citroën, but also Volkswagen, Toyota, Ford, Dacia, as well as BMW, Audi and Mercedes, the total reaches 1,024,517 transactions during the third quarter. Compared with last year, these established leaders gained 1.6%. One must go back to 2021 to find a higher performance.
Their situation was nevertheless poorly positioned at the start of the quarter. In July, the “club of 10” lost 1.7%. In August and especially in September, the group of marques climbed back to finish this very good quarter.
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Recovery for Some, New Highs for Others
Let’s stay with this club of 10. After nine months of activity, the used-car market stands at over 4 million transactions. The group of leading marques alone totals more than 3,133,897 transactions since the start of the fiscal year.
Peugeot and Ford are encountering more difficulties. For the rest, this cycle brings levels that seemed unattainable for a long time back into reach. Renault records its best total since 2022, as does Audi. For Citroën, Volkswagen and BMW, one has to go back four years to find superior performances.
At the end of this third quarter, the two rising stars that are Toyota and Dacia can boast of having lifted their level to a historic peak. The Japanese brand was involved in nearly 163,100 transactions and its Romanian rival in more than 138,200 deals. Never had so many been exchanged during the first nine months of a year.
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