The market for used cars remains tonic, 51% of transfers concern Euro6
Unrae report shows a positive trend in both net transfers of ownership and mini-transfers, every second model on the market is more than 10 years old
3' min read
3' min read
The used car market in Italy remains tonic, with June recording a positive result, with 422,627 transfers of ownership and an increase of 0.4% compared to 420,751 in June 2024 (+0.5% on 2019) thanks to mini-transfers. In the first half of the year, certifies the report released by Unrae, 1.9 used cars were purchased for every new car, it was 1.8 in the first half of 2024.
Net of May, the second-hand market recorded eight months of consecutive growth: net transfers fell by 0.3% in the month, while mini-transfers (the procedure that is activated when a private individual transfers his or her car to a dealer) were up by 1.5%, a sign of a market that remains lively. Overall, growth in the first six months was 2.5% with 2,808,863 transfers, including net and mini-transfers, a figure nevertheless down 0.6% on 2019.
In the first six months of 2025, a total of 1.594 million used cars and 861,000 new ones were purchased, amounting to 2,454,407 units. In the same period, transfers of Euro 6 cars accounted for the majority, 51.1% of the total, while 48% of transactions involved cars over 10 years old. There were more than 40.5 million cars on the road in Italy on 31 December 2024, 57.6 % of which were older than 10 years. As of 31 December 2024, 40.8 per cent of the cars on the road were covered by the Euro 6 Directive, 16.4 per cent by the Euro 5 Directive and 21.0 per cent by the Euro 4 Directive.
In June, diesel retained the top position among engine types, but continued to reduce its weight, dropping just 2.6 points to 41.1% share, the petrol engine gained 0.4 points to 38.5% for the month (38.6% over the six-month period). Hybrids showed sustained growth, reaching 10.6% (9.7% cumulative); LPG and CNG followed at 5.4% and 2.0% respectively in the month (5.1% and 2.0% cumulative); BEVs and plug-ins climbed to 1.1% and 1.3% in June (1.0% and 1.2% in the six months).
Looking at the contracting parties, the trend of the previous months is confirmed: exchanges between private individuals and companies remain predominant and gain 1.6 points, accounting for 56.1% of all property transfers, at 56.6% in the first half-year. At the same time, 1.7 points are lost by operator-to-customer transfers, at 39.2% for the month and 39.1% cumulatively. Exchanges from self-registrations gained a decimal (3.8% in May and 3.4% cumulative), while those from rentals remained stable, but marginal (0.9% cumulative in the month and half-year).
