Australia Used Car Market Size, Share, Report 2025

Market Overview

The Australia Used Car Market was valued at USD 77.2 Billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD 197 Billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 10.80% during the forecast period of 2025–2033. The market is driven by affordability pressures from the high cost of new vehicles, increasing demand for reliable pre-owned alternatives, the rapid rise of digital platforms simplifying transactions, growing consumer preference for fuel-efficient and eco-friendly vehicles, and a structural shift in buyer behavior toward certified, inspected, and warranty-backed pre-owned vehicles. Used car sales in Australia reached 2,324,805 units in 2024 — a 12.1% increase compared to the prior year, according to AADA data — with the first half of the year particularly strong before a moderation in late 2024. In 2025, approximately 2.32 million used vehicles were sold nationwide, with dealer-led transactions climbing to 48.6% of total used car sales — a sharp increase from 39.1% the year prior — signalling a decisive consumer move away from private listings and toward the accountability and service quality offered by organized dealerships. The Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux held Australia’s top two used car spots through late 2024, with Toyota models taking four of the top ten sales positions — reflecting strong consumer preference for proven, reliable brands during cost-of-living-pressured purchasing decisions. The New Vehicle Efficiency Standard’s progressive CO₂ targets from 2025 onward are accelerating the supply of hybrid and BEV models into the new car market, which will progressively feed into the secondary market as trade-ins and fleet disposals — creating a significant structural supply expansion of fuel-efficient used vehicles over the forecast period. In FY 2024–2025, transactions for used electric vehicles experienced significant growth, though listings grew at an even faster pace, creating increased price pressure in the used EV segment. New South Wales and ACT lead regionally at 34.5% share through Sydney and Canberra’s combined population concentration, economic activity, and highest per-capita vehicle ownership and turnover rates of any Australian region.

How AI is Reshaping the Future of the Australia Used Car Market:

Carma’s “Sell-to Carma” channel is powered in the background by AI pricing and valuation models across most makes and models — enabling customers to receive fast and fair offers on their vehicles — with the platform now valuing hundreds of cars every day and demonstrating how AI-driven instant valuation is eliminating the information asymmetry that has historically disadvantaged private sellers and created friction in the used car transaction process.
Digital marketplaces are streamlining the journey from car listing to handover by leveraging machine-learning valuations alongside integrated loan offers — with Carsales facilitating a substantial number of trades through its web and app platforms using structured data feeds to help dealers assess lead creditworthiness before the buyer’s arrival.
In March 2024, FinTech startup AutoSettle launched a platform transforming the vehicle-buying process in Australia — providing instant settlements, enhanced security, and digital identity verification by addressing inefficiencies and reducing fraud risks, integrating seamlessly with dealerships, financiers, and registrars — using AI-powered identity verification and automated settlement systems that reduce the transaction cycle from days to hours while eliminating the documentation fraud vulnerabilities that have made private used car transactions a significant consumer risk in Australia.
AI-powered computer vision is enabling virtual vehicle inspection and condition reporting at scale — with platforms including carsales.com.au and FindMyCar.au deploying machine learning-trained image analysis to detect potential mechanical and cosmetic issues from submitted vehicle photographs and provide detailed digital condition reports without requiring physical inspections — enabling buyers and sellers in regional and remote Australia to transact with confidence across geographic distances that have historically required in-person vehicle inspection as a prerequisite for purchase.
Cars24’s rapid-payment pledge is pressuring incumbents to cut settlement windows, amplifying digital competition on user experience — with AI-powered instant payment systems, automated title transfer, and same-day settlement capabilities that are reshaping buyer and seller expectations for transaction speed across the entire used car market ecosystem, compelling traditional dealerships and established online platforms to invest in process automation that meets the sub-24-hour settlement benchmark that digital-first platforms are establishing as the new market standard.

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Market Trends and Insights

Market Normalisation Creating a True Buyer’s Market: After supply shortages, inflated pricing, and erratic stock levels defined much of the early 2020s, 2025 marked a return to more predictable trading conditions, with inventory levels normalised, price volatility eased, and the gap between buyer expectations and seller pricing narrowed — creating a more balanced marketplace across most vehicle segments. Used vehicles listed for sale were up over 30% year-to-date to June 2025 compared with the same period in 2024, giving buyers exceptional choice across all price points and vehicle categories.
Digital-First Dealerships Disrupting the Traditional Model: Carma listed on the ASX in late 2025 at a targeted AUD 300–400 million market value — having reported AUD 69 million in FY2024 revenue — with its fully online checkout, instant finance approval, seven-day no-questions-asked returns policy, and NRMA-endorsed inspection and reconditioning program establishing the commercial model that is demonstrating digital dealerships can compete effectively against traditional dealerships on price, trust, and convenience simultaneously.
Used EV and Hybrid Supply Expanding Accessibility: Plug-in hybrid market share rose by 1.49 percentage points to 30 June 2024, and in April–June 2024 EV sales rose 91% from Q1 and 246% year-on-year — with the influx of new EV and hybrid models under the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard progressively creating a maturing used EV and hybrid supply that is bringing low-emission vehicle ownership within financial reach of middle-income Australians who cannot afford new EV pricing.
SUVs Entrenching Dominance Across All Market Segments: In November 2024, SUV sales reached 82,494 units — reflecting a notable shift in the used car market — with the Toyota RAV4, Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger, and Toyota LandCruiser consistently occupying the top used car sales positions nationally, driven by Australian consumers’ strong cultural preference for versatile, practical, and off-road-capable vehicles suited to both urban commuting and regional driving conditions.
Finance Penetration Expanding Market Accessibility: Australia’s used car market showed a 52% average increase in used car loans across three vehicle age categories in September 2024 Miteradio — reflecting the growing role of consumer auto finance in enabling used car purchases as new car price inflation has pushed average transaction values higher, with BNPL, subscription models from operators including HelloCars, and dealer-embedded instant financing platforms collectively expanding the buyer base for higher-value used vehicles beyond those who can purchase outright.

Sedans and SUVs together account for the dominant vehicle type share — with SUVs at 23.1% share leading through their versatility, family-space credentials, and suitability for Australia’s mix of urban and regional driving conditions, while sedans serve budget-conscious buyers and young drivers entering the market. Hatchbacks remain popular for urban buyers prioritising fuel economy and parking convenience. The unorganized vendor segment leads at 58.8% by share — sustained by private seller-to-buyer transactions via Facebook Marketplace, Gumtree, and private listings on carsales.com.au — though the organized segment’s growth from 39.1% to 48.6% of transactions in 2024–2025 reflects the structural shift toward dealer-mediated transactions as buyers increasingly value certification, inspection, warranty, and return policy protections over the price savings of private purchase. Gasoline leads by fuel type at 63.3% — sustained by the large stock of existing gasoline-powered vehicles in Australia’s registered fleet — while hybrid and electric vehicles are the fastest-growing fuel type segments by transaction volume. Offline channels dominate at 72.2% by transaction volume through Australians’ preference for in-person inspection, test drive, and negotiation, while online channels are the fastest growing at a projected 14.35% CAGR through 2031, with omnichannel hybrid models combining digital discovery and financing with physical handover emerging as the prevailing commercial format. Regionally, New South Wales and ACT lead at 34.5% through Sydney’s economic concentration, while Queensland is the fastest-growing regional market.

Market Growth Drivers

Affordability and Cost-of-Living Pressures

Australia’s sustained cost-of-living pressures — encompassing high mortgage rates, elevated rents, rising fuel costs, and grocery inflation — are structurally redirecting vehicle purchasing decisions toward used car alternatives that deliver the personal mobility Australians require at a fraction of the new car price. With the average new car price in Australia exceeding AUD 50,000 in 2024 — a record high driven by technology content increases, supply chain cost pressures, and the premium pricing of new EVs — the used car market’s ability to deliver comparable transport reliability and feature content at AUD 15,000–30,000 price points is generating a large and durable buyer cohort of young drivers, cost-conscious families, first-time buyers, and income-constrained households for whom new car purchase is financially inaccessible. The expansion of flexible used car financing — including sub-24-hour digital finance approval through Carma, Cars24, and dealership-integrated lending platforms, subscription models from HelloCars, and novated lease arrangements that make used car finance tax-effective for employees — is broadening the financially enabled buyer pool beyond those who can purchase outright to encompass the full spectrum of income levels where personal vehicle ownership is a practical mobility necessity in Australia’s car-dependent urban and regional geography.

Digital Platforms, Transparency and Buyer Confidence

The transformation of used car transactions through digital platforms offering comprehensive listings, vehicle history reports, virtual tours, instant valuations, and integrated financing is resolving the foundational information asymmetry that has historically made private used car transactions a high-risk proposition for buyers — and in doing so is expanding the total market by bringing risk-averse buyers into the used car market who previously defaulted to new car purchases to avoid the uncertainty of second-hand condition assessment. Carsales dominates the digital funnel, with its AUD 500 million rights issue in March 2023 funding a controlling stake in Brazil’s Webmotors and continuing investment in valuation algorithms TechRadar, while Carma’s NRMA-endorsed inspection and reconditioning, seven-day returns policy, and AI-powered instant valuation model represent the full-service digital dealership evolution that is capturing the consumer segment seeking the transparency and protection of an organized vendor at the price competitiveness of a digital-first operator. The March 2024 launch of AutoSettle’s instant settlement and digital identity verification platform further addresses the fraud and payment security concerns that have constrained private transaction volume — progressively closing the trust gap between private and organized market channels that will drive continued structural share shift toward organized digital dealerships over the forecast period.

Growing SUV Demand and Eco-Friendly Vehicle Preferences

Australia’s dominant consumer preference for SUVs, UTEs, and crossovers — reflecting the country’s outdoor lifestyle culture, regional driving requirements, high prevalence of towing and off-road activities, and family vehicle practicality demands — continues to shape the inventory mix and transaction dynamics of the used car market as the most commercially significant vehicle type preference trend of the decade. Simultaneously, the growing availability of hybrid and used EV inventory at accessible price points — as the record-high 2023–2024 EV and PHEV new car sales cohort begins entering the used market through trade-ins and lease returns — is creating a structural expansion of the affordable eco-friendly used vehicle segment that aligns with both consumer environmental preferences and the practical fuel economy savings that are particularly valued by cost-conscious buyers in an elevated fuel price environment. The August 2024 Uber and Car Empire pilot enabling Uber drivers to access affordable pre-owned EVs through Uber’s vehicle marketplace in Brisbane and the Gold Coast exemplifies the commercial models emerging to accelerate used EV adoption among driver and gig-economy worker segments who stand to benefit most from EV running cost savings in high-mileage usage contexts.

Market Segmentation

Vehicle Type Insights:

Hatchbacks
Sedan
Sports Utility Vehicle
Others

Vendor Type Insights:

Organized
Unorganized

Fuel Type Insights:

Gasoline
Diesel
Others

Sales Channel Insights:

Online
Offline

Regional Insights:

Australia Capital Territory & New South Wales
Victoria & Tasmania
Queensland
Northern Territory & Southern Australia
Western Australia

Recent News and Developments

Late 2025: Carma listed on the ASX at a targeted market value of AUD 300–400 Million — with the offer upsized from an initial AUD 70 million amid solid investor demand — positioning Australia’s fastest-growing digital used car dealership as a publicly listed vehicle that reported AUD 69 million in FY2024 revenue, approximately AUD 4,000 gross profit per vehicle, and an NRMA-endorsed inspection and reconditioning operation that is directly competing with traditional franchise dealerships on trust and transparency.
October 2025: Eagers Automotive — through its easyauto123 used car subsidiary — completed a capital tie-up with Mitsubishi Corporation, providing both expansion capital and upstream vehicle procurement leverage that positions Australia’s largest listed automotive dealer group to compete more aggressively in the used car segment through centralized reconditioning efficiencies and fleet acquisition access to Mitsubishi’s Japanese and Asia-Pacific remarketing pipelines.
May 2025: Carma launched a strategic brand partnership with the NRMA — becoming the NRMA’s exclusive recommended used car dealership — providing Carma access to the NRMA’s 2.6 million member base and lending the organization’s trusted consumer safety and vehicle reliability endorsement to Carma’s inspection and reconditioning standards, representing the most commercially significant brand partnership in the Australian digital used car dealership category.
September 2024: Australia’s used car market showed a 52% average increase in used car loans across three vehicle age categories — reflecting growing demand for pre-owned vehicles and changing consumer preferences toward more affordable and environmentally conscious transportation — with the finance penetration increase confirming that flexible consumer auto financing is expanding the buyer pool for higher-value used vehicles including certified pre-owned, hybrid, and electric models.
August 2024: Uber and Car Empire launched an Australian-first pilot in Brisbane and the Gold Coast to accelerate the second-hand EV market — enabling Uber drivers to access affordable pre-owned EVs including used Nissan Leafs through Uber’s vehicle marketplace with integrated financing and incentives — targeting a commercially significant adoption pathway for used EVs among high-mileage professional driver segments for whom EV running cost savings are most financially material.
March 2024: FinTech startup AutoSettle launched its vehicle transaction platform in Australia — providing instant settlements, enhanced security, and digital identity verification integrated with dealerships, financiers, and registrars — addressing the inefficiency, fraud risk, and settlement delay vulnerabilities that have historically constrained private used car transaction volume, representing a significant digital infrastructure advancement for the Australian used car market’s unorganized segment.

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