This year marks the second consecutive rebound for used car sales in Alicante, with an especially strong showing for older vehicles that dominated the market when new car supply was tight. The recovery mirrors improvements in new vehicle sales but runs counter to the national downward trend.
Data released on Wednesday by the associations Ganvam and Faconauto show that Alicante moved 93,770 used cars in 2022, a 3.44 percent rise from the previous year. That follows a prior rebound of 12.6 percent in 2020 after the pandemic slump. The province thus bucks the national decline, where sales fell 5.59 percent to a total of 1,885,553 units.
As a result, residents of Alicante bought significantly more used vehicles than new ones, with three used cars purchased for every new car registered. This ratio sits well above Spain’s average of 2.3 used cars per new car sold. The heightened activity in the Alicante market reflects broader regional economic vigor, supported by a tourism revival and improving activity in other sectors.
In the dealer analyzes, the focus is on growth in the market for older vehicles. Sales of cars aged over 15 years rose 6.2 percent, pushing the national total to 727,597 and accounting for roughly four tenths of the entire market.
On the other hand, the used vehicle segment faces stock shortages that hinder leasing and rental fleet renewals, limiting the supply of newer, lower-mileage models to the market.
Chip shortage is already causing delays of up to a year in vehicle delivery in Alicante
This same pattern was clear in the sales of three- and four-year-old vehicles, while new cars with zero mileage saw a sharp drop in performance for similar reasons.
Industry observers warn that the aging car fleet slows down the decarbonization push championed by the government. They also do not expect a rapid improvement in 2023, as the same issues observed last year persist, according to the employers’ associations.