Burgeoning electric vehicle uptake spurred on by cheaper new models and soaring fuel costs has led to converts flooding the second-hand market with used petrol and diesel cars, with sellers increasingly forced to cut asking prices to offload their old automobiles.
asserted
sellers → burgeon → automobiles
Australians’ newfound love affair with electric engines may have been the dominant story of the car industry this year – with an EV sold every 100 seconds in the first six months – but the trend has also dramatically shaken up the dynamics of the used vehicle market.
uncertain
trend → sell → market
Used car listings swelled to a peak of 437,855 in July, according to AutoGrab data covering dealerships and private listings.
uncertain
listings → use → dealerships
About 98 per cent of these are petrol, diesel or hybrids – vehicle types that many motorists are turning away from in droves.
asserted
motorists → turn → droves
“The Australian automotive market is undergoing the most significant transformation in its history,” is how James Voortman characterises it.
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Voortman → undergo → it
Voortman is chief executive of the Australian Automotive Dealer Association (AADA), which represents used car vendors.
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which → represent → vendors
“We’ve had an amazing set of circumstances in the past nine months.”
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We → have → months
Ross Perry, chief revenue office at industry data analysis platform AutoGrab, puts more bluntly the dilemma facing dealers, lenders and insurers.
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Perry → put → dealers
“Nobody making a decision on a used car can rely on what it was worth last year.”
asserted
it → make → car
A buyer’s market
The nation’s new and used car markets are closely linked, with developments in the former heavily shaping movements in the latter.
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developments → link → latter
While new car sales figures are strong – more than 1.2 million were sold in 2025 – most Australians are shopping in the second-hand market, which recorded about 2.3 million sales in the same year.
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which → sell → year
This meant that when a record 157,958 new electric vehicles sold in the first six months of this year, expanding market share from one in 10 new car purchases last year to more than one in four this year – a ripple effect hit the used market.
asserted
effect → mean → market
Among the options available to buyers are new entry-level EVs from Chinese brands such as BYD, Geely and MG, which can sell for between $20,000 and $30,000 driveaway, and the prospect that a typical driver can save about $3000 a year in running costs from avoiding the bowser.
asserted
driver → sell → bowser
A buyer with $30,000 to spend on a car might have previously considered a five-year-old European car, but could now purchase a new Chinese EV with modern features and a factory warranty for a similar price.
“When consumers can buy a new EV for $25,000, the maths around the second-hand market starts shifting quite a lot,” says Bruce Billson, executive of the Motor Trades Association of Australia which represents mechanics.
uncertain
which → spend → mechanics
In July’s peak, 12.2 per cent more petrol and 16.8 per cent more diesel vehicles were listed than in the same month last year.
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petrol → list → month
Contributing to a supply glut was a smaller appetite from Australians for used petrol and diesel cars.
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appetite → contribute → cars
The outbreak of the war in the Middle East that shuttered the Strait of Hormuz and wreaked havoc on global fuel supplies only served to bolster the appeal of EVs, both new and the relatively small number available on the second-hand market.
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that → shutter → market
In the six months to the end of June, sales of used petrol cars dropped just shy of 10 per cent, and diesel by 4 per cent, compared to the same period in 2025.
asserted
sales → use → 2025
At the same time, sales of used EVs soared to 25,417 – a 54.6 per cent rise.
asserted
sales → use → 25,417
“We had the humungous spike in new EV sales – there were waitlists – and so when people had FOMO [fear of missing out] they came to the used car market,” says Voortman.
asserted
Voortman → have → market
While the peak of listings has since eased – the figure dropped to 390,184 in September – and sales have improved, the massive shift to electric cars has dramatically hit the value of used fuel-reliant vehicles.
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shift → ease → vehicles
Petrol and diesel cars aged between one and five years depreciated by more than 8 per cent just in the eight months to September.
asserted
cars → age → September
The value lost so far this year is about four times the total depreciation the same kinds of vehicles suffered in all of 2025.
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kinds → lose → 2025
Some vehicles are bucking the broader trends.
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vehicles → buck → trends
As of September, the average 2020 hybrid has retained 81 per cent of its purchase value, compared to an EV model the same year, which kept just 40 per cent.
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which → retain → cent
However, AutoGrab data shows that year by year, newer EVs are defying their predecessors’ notoriety of steep depreciation due to obsolescence fears.
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EVs → show → fears
Beyond broad vehicle types, certain makes and models that are highly sought after are also retaining their value, says AutoGrab’s Perry.
asserted
Perry → seek → value
“The old rules about what holds its value are being tested car by car,” he finds.
asserted
he → hold → car
Utes, four-wheel drives, vans and vehicles that need to tow are also holding up better as they don’t have practical electric alternatives.
asserted
they → need → alternatives
While that phenomenon with newer builds holding more of their purchase value will probably affect the market in the future, the outlook across the entire second-hand market remains softer.
asserted
outlook → hold → market
“When all those people make the jump and dispose of their current vehicle to get an EV, it leads to a spike in listings,” Voortman says.
asserted
Voortman → make → listings
It’s a buyer’s market now, which has “presented some good opportunities for those shopping for a used car”.
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which → ’ → car
Melbourne personal trainer Jess Bricker is among those benefiting from the oversupply.
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Bricker → benefit → oversupply
The 30-year-old recently moved back to the city with her partner, Jonathan, after years of living overseas.
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old → move → years
One of the first things she did to restart their lives here was look for a car.
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she → do → car
As her job requires early morning shifts, Bricker wanted to find one before taking on more work.
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Bricker → require → work
As moving back home was costly and their combined incomes are still modest, a brand-new car was outside the couple’s budget.
asserted
car → move → budget
Instead, they turned to the second-hand car market, and Bricker dedicated many days over the month-long process at dealerships and on websites, inspecting cars.
asserted
Bricker → turn → cars
“We didn’t have a car, so then we needed to borrow [Jonathan’s] mum’s car whenever we went to go see a car,” she says.
asserted
she → have → car
“There were just a lot more hurdles, and I started feeling fairly desperate.”
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I → be → ?
…and 27 more, not listed.
The Aporia
