Services: finance and insurance, e-commerce

To finance this considerable price gap, the aim for carmakers and lenders is to forecast increasingly higher residual values (an RV is the estimated resale price of a new car at the end of its finance agreement). This means that a smaller share of the PCP agreement is financed, lowering the monthly payment. This practice of “inflating” RVs has become commonplace, particularly for electric vehicles, making it harder to sell them as used vehicles (since the residual value at which the professional takes the car back is sometimes higher than the market price of the used vehicle).
In 2024, car dealers were making worrying losses on returns of electric cars at the end of PCP contracts. On the used vehicle market, lenders are still benefiting from the habit among consumers of borrowing to pay for the car (63%) and this proportion is even higher for older models.
Put differently, PCPs are mainly used here for recent used vehicles (under four years of age) whose prices, as discussed above, are substantially higher than before, and therefore require this type of financial engineering. All-make used vehicle traders, with older vehicle parcs, have not experienced this shift in financing methods.
ALSO WORTH NOTING: the total amount of borrowings for the used vehicle market was down during the first ten months of 2024 (-4.6%, source ASF), illustrating that French people buying used vehicles did so more with cash or by making a larger downpayment. The used vehicle market is probably using up a share of French household savings.

The online car parts market

The online spare parts market is one of the most dynamic segments of the aftermarket, with high average annual growth both in France and in Europe. The major phenomenon currently is the digitalisation of purchases by consumers, but also by repair shops and companies.
All economic players are massively turning to online platforms for parts, taking advantage of the variety of ranges and competitive prices in Europe, where price corridors have not been effectual in harmonising prices.
Amazon and eBay Motors are big suppliers to the general public. Specialist platforms such as Oscaro (PHE – D’Ieteren group), Mister Auto (Stellantis group), and the German company Autodoc, are the leaders in Europe and have established themselves a yardstick for professionals who are constantly testing the limits of physical spare parts dealers for all their purchases.

In the tyre sector  online sales make up*

20%

of the tyre market in France
On the spare parts market, no reliable consolidated data exists in Europe. Online sales have a very obvious impact on the spare parts market:
• Fierce price competition leading to tighter margins,
• Along with recurring problems around counterfeit
• The low quality of certain products.
The confidence and assurance provided by spare parts wholesale partners is an essential factor behind the choice of repair shops, who on the whole continue to buy their parts from these companies, albeit at prices that are slightly higher than those practiced online..
*Source : Syndicat du pneu