France: new and used car sales 1990-2023

In France, used cars have been consistently more popular than new cars over the past decades, reaching a record six million sales in 2021, before dropping to 5.3 million in 2023. In contrast, new automobile sales have faced consistent fluctuation over the years as well as a slower recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, as their 2023 sales remained below the 2019 sales volume. 

The state of the French used car market

Private passenger cars were by far the best-selling type of used vehicles in France as of January 1st, 2023, recording over seven times the used van and truck sales volume that year. Most used cars sold in France had a diesel internal combustion engine (ICE), and ICE vehicles remained overall the most popular, partly due to the emerging nature of the used electric vehicle market. However, cars fitting stricker European emission standards have been entering the market. Used cars on the French market tended to be older, as around 1.47 million used vehicles over 15 years old were sold in 2023, followed by vehicles between two and five years old. The overall average used car age in metropolitan France has been steadily increasing since 2019.

Global used vehicle price inflation

While the age of used vehicles in France remained high, the yearly Consumer Price Index (CPI) also increased, up to 105.77 in 2023. Monthly prices were more volatile, reaching a Consumer Price Index of 104.45 in November 2024. This increase in used vehicle prices is tightly linked with the overall inflation recorded across the world. Used car prices in other markets have also been growing during 2022. In the United States, the used car and truck CPI spiked by 1.8 percent in May 2022 and the U.S. used vehicle average selling price was the highest on record since 2016 in 2022. The United Kingdom faced similar challenges, with its annual second hand car CPI jumping to 118.9 in 2022, the second-highest it had been since 2008.