Xin Ou
Research expert covering Greater China
Automotive e-commerce in Europe - statistics & facts
In the stagnating European automotive market, e-commerce is flourishing in the spare parts and used vehicles segments. As it is for other big-ticket goods, online channels serve as crucial additional touchpoints of the omnichannel shopping experience, as consumers compare prices and models and look for post-sale assistance online first.
Seeing how lucrative third-party stores have become, manufacturers implemented B2B online marketplaces for spare parts, too. An example of this is the B2B Connect App by Mercedes-Benz, which combined selling of genuine parts and accessories and workshop equipment with repair and maintenance information.
The passenger car market
One of the leading platforms for new and used car sales in the United Kingdom (UK), AutoTrader, has seen growing revenues over the last few years. However, the company shared that the 2024 increase in new car registrations was mostly due to the fleet segment, signaling a more stable growth of used car transactions. Aramis Group, the French marketplace owned by Stellantis, successfully specialized in the used cars segment, providing refurbishing services for the business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) market. In Europe, the used cars online market gained traction thanks to lower prices, too. In France, average online prices of used cars declined in all categories between 2023 and 2024, with electric vehicles’ prices dropping by over 17 percent.Car aftermarket goes online
Car parts retail, including the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) segment, has thrived in the online market. In Europe, Germany hosts one of the biggest players—Autodoc, which ranked among the top car parts and tires online stores in France, the UK, and Spain. Although lagging compared to U.S. or Chinese usage rates, online shopping for car parts has come to be an established habit among European consumers. Over four in ten German consumers did purchase spare parts online in 2024 and would continue to do so in the future.B2B prospects
The rate of e-commerce adoption in B2B environment is aligning with the established B2C trend observed worldwide. In Italy and France, car dealerships prefer online marketplaces over online auction platforms for their used cars business. Online marketplaces were strikingly more popular as sale platforms. In turn, car dealers used online auction platforms to buy used vehicles for resale.Seeing how lucrative third-party stores have become, manufacturers implemented B2B online marketplaces for spare parts, too. An example of this is the B2B Connect App by Mercedes-Benz, which combined selling of genuine parts and accessories and workshop equipment with repair and maintenance information.
