Propulsion type of new and used cars in Austria 2021

In Austria, used passenger car registrations exceeded those of new cars by 260 percent in 2021. The bulk of used car registrations were gasoline and diesel. While diesel outnumbered gasoline vehicles in used car registrations, new cars reversed this trend, and gasoline vehicles were more common.

Alternative propulsion is going electric

Contrary to the market for conventional cars, new car registrations exceed those of used cars for alternative propulsion systems. With increasing demand combined with a relatively new and thus small used electric vehicle market in Austria, buying new is the most common option when acquiring a hybrid or battery electric vehicle.
Alternative fuel vehicle registrations are dominated by plug-in electric hybrids (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs), followed by a smaller number of hybrid diesel models. BEVs have become particularly popular, with registrations doubling between 2020 and 2021, and annual registrations rising to nearly 33,500 vehicles in 2021. Other alternative fuel systems play only a minor role and are even less prevalent among new than used car registrations.

Used cars are becoming more expensive

Consumer prices for used cars in Austria remained relatively low over several years until 2020 when the market shifted and prices began to increase. While the cost of new cars continued to rise through 2020 on a trajectory consistent with previous years, the rate of change of the price of used vehicles began rising steeply from mid-2021. The reduced availability of new cars due to continuing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic combined with other factors such as the global shortage of semiconductors has increased demand for used vehicles and driven up prices.