The intended renovation of the Spanish car park, one of the oldest in Europe, has no sign of coming, at least in the short term. In 2022, there were 1.8 million transfers of used vehicles (VO) in Spain, for just 813,396 new vehicles sold in the same period. These figures, which rrepresent that for each new vehicle registered, more than two used ones are sold, they will lengthen the 13.9 years on average of the cars that currently circulate on our roads, with the consequent risk to public health.
According to the figures handled by CARFAX, an international company that stands out as the largest private provider of vehicle records in Spain and Europe, for every new car sold in Spain, a used car that is more than 10 years old is also sold. This statistic highlights that the car park is far from renewed. This highlights the importance of the second-hand vehicle market in the country and the need for services that offer records that guarantee safe and transparent transactions.
On the other hand, according to the data provided by CARFAX, the average mileage of cars of national origin is 171,000 kilometers, while that of imported ones (which represented 12% of the purchase-sale operations in 2022) is of 186,000 kilometers, figures that certify that the Spanish car park is far from meeting the government’s sustainability objectives in the medium and long term. Recall that the European Parliament has recently decided to ban the sale of gasoline and diesel cars in Europe from 2035.
Decline in new vehicle registrations in 2022
The high sales figures for used cars contrast with the decline in new vehicle registrations in 2022, that, according to the data provided by ANFAC, they fell 5.4% in 2022, as a consequence of the international situation, inflation and the absence of government incentives for Spaniards to consider replacing their old cars with newly registered vehicles.
The circumstance arises that, among those 1.8 million second-hand vehicles transferred – between individuals, mainly – in 2022, according to the data presented by CARFAX, 4% had suffered previous accidents or damage, while 5% They had inconsistencies in their mileage that could reveal some kind of tampering.
In 2022, the brands that generated the most CARFAX reports for Spanish users who bought used vehicles were of German origin: BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, Audi and SEAT, in that order.
Thus, the best-selling cars of national origin were those of the SEAT brands, with 10%; Peugeot, with 9%; Citroën, with 8.5%; Volkswagen, also with 8.5%, and Renault, with the same percentage as the previous two. For its part, with regard to cars imported by Spanish buyers, 18% were Mercedes-Benz; 17%, Volkswagen; 14%, BMW, and 12%, Audi.
These statistics show that Spanish drivers who are interested in used vehicles turn to CARFAX the more expensive the tourism profile they are looking for is, since the history provided by the largest vehicle history provider in Spain and Europe is very useful for them. to know the damages or hidden defects that these used vehicles of origin may have, sometimes unclear.
