Amid increasing prices of luxury cars and long waiting periods, the pre-owned high-end car market is witnessing an uptick in sales.

Luxury car companies have reported growth in their certified pre-owned business. For instance, UK luxury carmaker Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) reported a 137 per cent increase in Q1 of FY24.

German luxury carmaker Audi has reported 53 per cent growth, while Mercedes-Benz India has reported 20 per cent growth in the first six months of 2023.

“Mercedes-Benz Certified business has been performing steadily, driven primarily by the growing aspiration of customers and an increased supply of pre-owned cars. The customer experience for the pre-owned business is made seamless with exclusive online stores, which offer customers flexibility of choice, adding momentum to our pre-owned car sales,” said Santosh Iyer, MD and CEO of Mercedes-Benz India.

The company saw 135 per cent growth in CY2022 and 60 per cent sales through finance for its pre-owned certified vehicle business. The LWB E-class remained the highest-selling pre-owned car for Mercedes-Benz India.

Spinny, which sells pre-owned cars, has witnessed an uptick in used luxury car sales on its Spinny Max platform.

Also read: We are seeing a huge uptick in our certified used car business: Vikram Pawah of BMW Group India 

“There’s a massive uptick in the luxury used car segment, with sales estimates of 60,000 units annually, which is about 1.7-times of new luxury cars in India. As per our recent report, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW have emerged as the preferred brands among consumers. We’ve also noticed a growing demand for brands like JLR and Volvo,” said Niraj Singh, founder and CEO of Spinny.

According to luxury carmakers, the growth in sales is also due to the pre-owned car sector becoming organised.

“The industry is becoming organised through OEM manufacturers. We offer a service package and a two-year warranty and also inform customers that are purchasing cars to sell their cars through us. We now have a wider customer base that is willing to buy pre-owned luxury cars through the channel,” said Balbir Singh Dhillon, Head of Audi India.

Sales in Tier-2 cities

While the demand for pre-owned luxury cars is stronger in metros, there is also an uptick in sales from tier-2 cities.

“Key metros remain our focused growth markets, contributing approximately 60 per cent of our pre-owned business. However, it’s encouraging to witness affluent customers in smaller metros showing keen interest in upgrading and opting for a pre-owned Mercedes, opening new growth avenues for our Certified business,” added Santosh Iyer.

“Not limited to just tier-1 and metro cities, we have observed a substantial surge in demand from tier-2 and 3 cities as well,” added Niraj Singh.

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