According to the Portuguese Automobile Trade Association (ACAP), last year was therefore worse than 2020, a year in which used car sales fell by 11 percent compared to the pre-pandemic period.

In the month of December, there was a 9 percent growth in the registration of used cars compared to the same period of 2020, contradicting the trend of year-on-year declines that persisted since June. However, when compared to 2019, there was a decrease of 9 percent.

According to ACAP's Standvirtual barometer, SUVs were the most searched segment in the new vehicle section, standing above 40 percent of purchase intentions. Utility vehicles (15 percent) and city dwellers (10 percent) follow, with the remaining segments below 10 percent.

As for the type of fuel most in demand in new vehicles, the trend is for gasoline (almost 50 percent) and then for Diesel (20 percent). There is also a great demand for gasoline hybrids (12.4 percent), which, even so, does not exceed the demand for electric ones (14.6 percent).

On the other hand, the scarcity of cars below €10,000 remains, with around 18 percent of the share of ads, compared to 25 percent a year ago. The share of vehicles remains between 10 and 20 thousand euros (41%), but below the levels of January 2021 (46%). The representation of cars above 20 thousand euros increased from 27% to 40% in the last year.