2 out of 3 – or 68.7 percent – of car dealers in Germany no longer take used electric cars in exchange for a new car. This is happening after the country's government dropped the state subsidy for the car type.
2 out of 3 German car dealers have stopped trade-ins with electric cars.
– In my opinion, the used electric cars from the first generations are victims of rapid technological development, especially on the used market, says Philipp Seidel, car expert for Arthur D. Little, to the media Stern.
And that now has consequences. In a larger survey, which the industry magazine Kfz-betrieb is behind, as many as 68.7 percent of car dealers answer that they have stopped taking used electric cars in exchange.
The overriding reason is that the trade-in is quite simply a loss-making business. At least when the Germans want to give an electric car in exchange as part of the down payment on a new car.
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As many as 51.1 percent of the car dealers surveyed also say that used electric cars are currently 'almost unsellable'.
It is especially the high prices for technology, which in many cases is already outdated, that make both dealers and used car customers stay away.
However, the electric cars do not need to be used, because they are obsolete. Volvo is currently faced with a sea of brand new electric cars that contain outdated technology. A mistake that is set to cost the Chinese brand billions of kroner. Read more about it here.
The car brands themselves have started to train brand dealers in the sale and trade-in of used electric cars. It is especially something that you can feel at Audi is associated with great interest, claims a spokesperson from the brand in Ingolstadt.
Volkswagen has also started to develop ideas for how the brand's dealers can get rid of used electric cars.
– In the future, Volkswagen Financial Services will itself keep electric cars for as long as possible in order to be able to offer customers attractive leasing agreements for used electric cars, says a spokesperson from Volkswagen to Stern.
Read more exciting news from and about the world of cars right here
