In the overall pattern of the automotive industry

In the overall pattern of the automotive industry, the used - car trading market is undergoing profound changes, presenting a complex situation where opportunities and challenges coexist.

According to the data from the China Automobile Dealers Association, from January to April 2025, the cumulative trading volume of the national used - car market reached 6.31 million units, with a year - on - year growth of 0.5%, and the trading amount was 413.4 billion yuan, a year - on - year decrease of 2.7%. In April alone, the trading volume was 1.7 million units, a month - on - month decrease of 3% and a year - on - year increase of 1.3%, and the trading amount was 110.2 billion yuan, a slight year - on - year decrease of 0.8%. Although the trading volume shows a trend of slight growth, the significant slowdown in the growth rate of the trading amount indicates a downward trend in the average transaction price of used cars. At the same time, the development trend of new - energy used cars is particularly remarkable. In April, its penetration rate reached 9.1%, continuing the upward trend in recent years. This is due to the increase in the ownership of new - energy vehicles and the advantages in terms of use cost, which are gradually promoting its emergence in the used - car circulation field.

From the perspective of the vertical development of the market scale, the trading scale of the used - car market has continued to expand in recent years. The trading amount has increased from 1.06 trillion yuan in 2022 to 1.28 trillion yuan in 2024. In 2024, the cumulative trading volume of used cars in China reached 19.6142 million units, with a year - on - year growth of 6.52%, and the corresponding total trading amount exceeded 1.28 trillion yuan. Both core indicators have set new industry records. However, compared with developed countries, the proportion of used - car trading volume to the car ownership in China is still at a low level, which also means that there is huge potential in the market waiting to be tapped.

Data from Tianyancha Professional Edition shows that as of now, there are more than 1.063 million used - car - related enterprises in operation and existence in China. Among them, as of now in 2025, about 69,000 new - registered related enterprises have been added. From the trend of enterprise registration quantity, in the past five years, the registration quantity of used - car - related enterprises has shown a trend of increasing year by year and reached its peak in 2023. The growth rate slowed down slightly last year. From the perspective of regional distribution, Shandong Province, Guangdong Province, and Jiangsu Province rank among the top in terms of the number of used - car - related enterprises, with more than 110,000, 98,000, and 72,000 respectively.

Behind the prosperous development, the used - car trading industry also faces many thorny problems. The continuous escalation of the price war in the new - car market has had a drastic impact on the used - car market. The price inversion phenomenon of some mainstream brand fuel - powered vehicles and new - energy vehicle models occurs frequently. For example, for a best - selling SUV of a joint - venture brand, the listed price of its nearly - new used car is nearly 20,000 yuan higher than the terminal discounted price of the updated new car. This abnormal phenomenon directly leads to the extension of the inventory cycle of used - car dealers. The latest data from the China Automobile Dealers Association shows that in March 2025, the inventory turnover days of used cars nationwide remained as high as 42 days. Inventory backlog not only takes up a large amount of funds but also squeezes the profit margin of car dealers. The gross profit margin per vehicle is constantly declining. Among the top 100 used - car enterprises, 49 have a gross profit margin per vehicle hovering at the critical line of 4% - 6%, and 29 have fallen below the 4% operating cost threshold.

In addition, the long - standing problem of information opacity in the used - car market is still prominent. The non - disclosure of vehicle condition information and price information seriously affects the trust of consumers. Standardization issues of vehicle condition information such as the identification of water - damaged vehicles and accident - damaged vehicles frequently lead to consumer complaints, hindering the healthy development of the industry. Judging from the Tianyancha Tianyan Risk and Deep Risk, used - car - related enterprises involved in judicial cases account for about 5.36% of the total.

In order to cope with these challenges, used - car dealers are also actively exploring the path of change. In terms of channel expansion, many dealers have begun to build a "three - dimensional vehicle source network" with the help of digital means. A leading car dealer in Hangzhou, through the intelligent monitoring system of the short - video platform, scans more than 500,000 personal vehicle source information daily, and the conversion rate of live - broadcast car purchases has increased significantly compared with the traditional channels. The innovative "digital auction + instant retail" hybrid model launched in Qingdao has compressed the vehicle turnover cycle to within 7 days, which is 60% shorter than the traditional model. Although the gross profit margin of the participating dealers has dropped to 3.8%, the capital turnover rate has increased by 4 times, verifying the new business logic of "small profits but quick turnover".

Overall, the used - car trading industry is standing at a crucial crossroads. Although it is facing many challenges such as the new - car price war, information opacity, and rising operating costs, with the continuous expansion of the market scale, the continuous increase in policy support, and the positive transformation of the industry itself, the used - car market is still full of development opportunities. In the future, the used - car industry needs to focus on consumer demand and achieve the transformation from "scale dividend" to "value dividend" through service upgrading and model innovation, injecting lasting momentum into the healthy development of the automotive industry.