Gasoline remains the first choice, but...

Gasoline remains the first choice, but...

The automobile market is clearly on the brakes when it comes to registration numbers and ownership transfers. The spring recovery failed again, although this was not due to a lack of demand, but rather due to a lack of supply. And the limited supply available is currently still very expensive. Prices for used cars have remained at a high level since March 2022, but have now fallen minimally for the first time (in Germany by 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month). “It seems as if the interesting ones are waiting to see whether prices continue to fall,” says the current DAT barometer.

In the meantime, the omnipresent communication and the growing range of alternative drives are bearing fruit: almost a third of private car purchase planners could now imagine a hybrid as the most likely type of engine, and one in five could imagine a purely battery-electric vehicle. These numbers are significantly higher than those from the April 2019 survey. At the same time, gasoline engines in particular remain very popular.

If a purchase planner is considering a purely battery-electric car, then for 67% of those surveyed it should be a new car and have a range of just over 400km. At least 40% of those surveyed could imagine a purely electric car as a year-old car; anything older than twelve months is unattractive. The most common reason against a used electric car in general is outdated technology, followed by the continued small price advantage of a used car compared to a massively subsidized new electric vehicle.

The acceptance of a purely electric car as the main vehicle in the household has increased among purchase planners: almost half of all those surveyed in May 2022 (49%) could imagine this. This is a significant increase compared to 2019, when only 39% confirmed this.

The choice of the most likely engine type has changed significantly over the last three years. Gasoline engines are still the most popular type of drive, but the preferences of car purchase planners have fallen significantly from 49% in 2019 to 33% currently. If you combine the full and plug-in hybrids, place them like this

This is currently close behind at 32%. Interest in them has increased significantly since 2019 (23%). But the change is even greater for cars with electric motors (BEVs): in 2019, a BEV was the most likely type of engine for only 8% of purchase planners, but in 2022 it was already 22%.

Most car purchase planners would prefer an electric car as a new car, with 67% of respondents citing this as the most likely option. For 40%, a used car that is no older than twelve months would be an option. Compared to the survey from April 2021, this is an increase of ten percentage points. Used electric vehicles older than a year would still be eligible for 10%. Only 4% are still undecided or did not provide any information as to whether purchasing a new electric car or a used electric car would be an option for them.

Outdated technology is the most common reason for rejecting used e-cars: When people for whom a used e-car would not be an option were asked about the reasons for their rejection, the top priority (34%) was outdated technology in terms of battery, range and charging capacity. Close behind was the massive promotion of new electric cars at 33%, which only leads to small price advantages for a used electric car. Almost as many respondents (30%) agreed with the statement “(too) long loading times compared to current models”. A good quarter were fundamentally against buying a used car - regardless of whether it was electric or not.

Acceptance of electric cars as the main vehicle has increased: When private car purchase planners were asked whether they would use a purely battery-electric vehicle as a replacement for the car they mainly use, 49% currently confirmed this. A quarter of those surveyed in May 2022 would only use an electric car as an additional car and almost as many are undecided. A significant shift compared to the results from September 2019, when the majority of 45% saw electric cars as second cars. The total required BEV minimum range was given by car purchase planners in May 2022 as 403 kilometers.

Vehicle values, however, remain at a high level: the significant increase in sales prices of three-year-old used cars has stopped for the time being. After very strong increases from June 2021 to February 2022, only very slight increases were registered from March to April 2022. In May, the value of used petrol cars was 67.5% of the former list price (-0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month), used diesel cars still achieved 65.2% (also -0.1 percentage points compared to the previous month). The trend is therefore more sideways than upwards. It remains to be seen whether the peak has been reached.