Used vehicles drive rise in sales
Sales of used vehicles have helped overall sales in the market, as those of new vehicles continue to decline.
As with nearly every market sector, vehicle sales suffered greatly during Greece’s protracted financial crisis.
On the surface, it looks like the sector has turned the corner. July sales data published by independent statistics authority ELSTAT showed the month being the best in 10 years.
However, 46 percent of the 17,735 vehicles sold were used, while the number of new vehicles sold declined 3.3 percent compared to July 2018.
To put things in perspective, the combined sales of new and used vehicles in July 2009, when the crisis had already started but was not yet apparent, were 40,869, while a year later, two months after the signing of the first austerity package with the country’s creditors, this figure had dropped to 15,113.
While used vehicles account for 42 percent of car sales, they are the overwhelming majority in sales of buses and trucks.
Greece’s vehicle fleet, already the oldest in Europe, is getting even older and is not always compatible with changing environmental standards.
