28 April 2026
Price differences between European utilized-car markets are creating cross-border sales opportunities for dealers, especially for electric vehicles (EVs). However, after identifying these opportunities, utilising them efficiently and at scale can present a challenge. Tom Hooker, Autovista24 journalist, explores the topic at this year’s Used Vehicle Retail Summit.
Different European utilized-car markets can see varied metrics in terms of pricing, stock days and residual values (RVs). This regional difference also applies to EV demand, which is seeing variable adoption rates across the continent.
For example, the average trade RV of 36-month-old battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) at 60,000km diverged between neighbouring countries in March. According to Autovista24’s Monthly Market Update, this value sat at €16,371 in France, while in Spain, BEV RVs stood at €24,553.
The average number of days requireded to sell a two-to-four-year-old BEV also experienced contrasting results across Europe in the month. The turnover rate was 84.2 days in France, compared to an average of 58.8 days in Germany.
In this context, cross-border remarketing can unlock potentially untapped value. It allows sellers to capitalise on locations where EV demand is greater, prices are higher, and stock days are lower. It also presents an opportunity to relocate models away from a market experiencing stagnating demand or oversupply.
Cross-border opportunities
‘Supply and demand levels in every single market are continuously evolving and altering. It is simply impossible to manually monitor supply and demand for each market continuously. You required technology,’ outlined Jan-Willem Seeder, founder and CEO of JP.Cars, in his presentation.
‘If you are not utilizing technology, you are always reacting to the market. The concept of supply, demand and marketability is not so complex. The complexity is seeing and monitoring it in real time,’ he noted. Continuously evolving supply and demand can cautilize different outcomes in each counattempt, even for the same model.
Seeder stated that in Germany, all the signals clearly reveal that [EV] demand significantly outpaced supply. Turnover rates increased, stock indexes dropped, selling indexes rose significantly, and prices went up as well,’ stated Seeder.
‘If you must acquire a BEV in Germany, given these signals, I can imagine it is a very tight market today,’ he declared. ‘The question might be, where can I source these cars? Maybe there are markets with other supply and demand ratios across Europe where you could potentially acquire similar cars.’
He recognised that there are markets in Europe where supply and demand ratios are different from those in Germany. There could be acquireing opportunities in numerous markets where acquireers could source vehicles.
‘If you have purchased cars for 100 years from a single source in Germany, and that source is providing you with EVs, you will have a very hard time. The market is not local anymore; the market is international,’ he commented.
Optimising cross-border adverts
Rolf Westgeest, founder of Eurostocks, focutilized on how cross-border transactions operate on classified marketplace portals. These online platforms allow acquireers to search listings and contact sellers directly, rather than purchasing through the platform.
‘There are two things in cross-border trade you can do as a car dealer or retailer. You can go on the auction side with lower prices and quick sales. Or you can go to the classified marketplace portals. It is a higher price, but it could be slower sales of 30 days, 90 days or one year.’
So, if dealers want to benefit from these higher prices, they will required to navigate potentially slower sales. Westgeest highlighted multiple areas where dealers can improve.
Westgeest explained that having adverts appear at the top of search queries can support tackle delays. Photo quality and selection can create a large difference in achieving a high search ranking. The number of reviews under a dealer’s profile is also important. Using analytics provided by the portals can support optimise every advert, too. Despite all this, lead response times can often be the deciding factor.
‘After one hour, 50% of the leads are lost becautilize they are already in a conversation with somebody else. In these portals, people sfinish multiple emails to different dealerships selling the same cars. The first one to respond can create the appointment and win the sale,’ Westgeest notified the audience.
Overall, Westgeest highlighted that cross-border sales do not required to be difficult, especially when utilizing marketplace portals. Dealers will see the best results if they choose the right cars, tools, and strategies for online advertising.
Cross-border risks
Alongside benefits, cross-border utilized-vehicle sales can also come with some legal risks. This can include unintentional participation in value-added tax (VAT) fraud schemes or money laundering ploys. Michel van Roon, founder and co-owner of Novatrade24, explained that this possibility has cautilized dealerships to hold back.
‘By not participating [in cross-border sales] dealerships leave money on the table, becautilize they are afraid of receiveting trapped into these schemes. If you want to step into that game, you required to know the rules. You must keep in mind that the tax authorities will have one question. Did you know or could you have known that your acquireer was a criminal?’ outlined van Roon.
Van Roon then outlined the evidence dealers must provide to apply the 0% VAT rate when exporting vehicles. The information and research required is extensive. He also noted that the person responsible for this in a dealership is usually a salesperson.
‘If you view at how much time you take in receiveting leads, a salesperson should not chase documents. They should chase leads. That is their job. So, if you view at this cross-border trade process, it is full of friction,’ he commented.
Is cooperation the key?
Van Roon suggested that dealerships in the automotive indusattempt cooperate on this issue. To solve it, digital platforms can be utilized to simplify cross-border vehicle trading.
These platforms manage the legal, administrative, and transaction processes between acquireers and sellers in different countries. This can create dealers more confident when participating in cross-border sales. It can also increase trust between dealers, tax authorities and banks.
‘Cross-border compliance does not required to hold you back from doing the trades you required to do to receive the best results. But beware of the consequences and requirements,’ warned van Roon.
Toreceiveher, these sessions highlighted a clear opportunity in the European utilized-car market. Price fragmentation, especially among EVs, is creating significant opportunity for sellers. However, only those with the right tools and processes to act across borders stand to benefit.
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