Why Germany has the car you want and Spain does not

The Premium Cars team18 September 20263 min read

The numbers, side by side

	Germany 2025	Spain 2025
New cars registered	around 2.9 million (+1.4 %)	1,148,650 (+12.9 %)
Used market	6,512,427 changes of keeper (+0.5 %)	2,218,824 used car sales

So: about 2.5 times as many new cars and almost 3 times the used-car movement. When you are after a specific version, in a specific colour, with a specific specification, that ratio is exactly the difference between finding it and not finding it.

Both German figures are from the KBA, in the same press release: "more than 6.5 million passenger cars changed keeper during the year".

The figure that really explains the premium stock

This is the good one, and it is in the KBA press release of 6 January 2026: in 2025, 66.1 % of new cars were registered to companies, and only 33.6 % to private individuals.

Two thirds of the German new-car market is the company channel: rental, leasing, fleets, management cars. And those cars come back to the used market after two, three or four years, well maintained in the official network and with the specification a company chose rather than whatever was left in the yard. That is where approved stock comes from.

In Spain the structure is different: of the 1,148,650 sales in 2025, 539,642 went to private buyers, 418,574 to companies and 190,434 to rental firms (figures from ANFAC, Faconauto and GANVAM). Companies and rental firms together are 53 %.

Statistical honesty: that German 66.1 % and this Spanish 53 % are not directly comparable. The KBA's "gewerblich" category and ANFAC's "companies" are not defined the same way, and we have not been able to verify what each one includes (self-registrations, leasing, rental). They are useful for seeing the shape of the market, not for subtraction.

And the market shares of the brands we care about

In Germany in 2025 (KBA): Mercedes 9.1 % share (+1.0 %), BMW 8.9 % (+8.9 %), MINI 1.2 % (+6.4 %) and Porsche 1.0 % (−17.7 %). On 2.9 million cars, a 9 % share is more than 260,000 new units a year from a single premium brand. That is the nursery of the used market we look at.

What we are NOT going to tell you

It is often repeated that "German cars come better equipped as standard". We do not claim that, because we looked for a comparable official price or equipment list between the two countries and did not find one. Configurators are dynamic and cannot be read that way.

What is true, and it is a different thing, is that there are more cars to choose from. With two and a half million more new cars a year and two thirds of them bought by companies, the probability of finding exactly the combination you want — engine, trim, air suspension, driver assistance, colour — is simply much higher. It is not that the German car is better: it is that there are more of them.

How many used cars are already imported

According to GANVAM, using MSI data, imports of used cars and light commercials grew 28 % in 2025, to 172,504 units. There is no official breakdown by country of origin, so we cannot tell you how many come from Germany. But the trend is clear and it is not new.

And one piece of context that explains why this matters: in Spain, cars more than 10 years old made up 57.3 % of used sales in 2025, with an average age of 11 years. The Spanish used market is far older. Looking for a nearly new premium car here means competing for a small pool.

Frequently asked questions

Why is there more nearly new premium stock in Germany?

Market size and market structure. In 2025 around 2.9 million new cars were registered in Germany against 1,148,650 in Spain, and 66.1 % of the German ones went to companies, according to the KBA. Those cars return to the used market a few years later.

Is the German used market bigger?

Yes. There were 6,512,427 changes of keeper of passenger cars in Germany in 2025, according to the KBA, against 2,218,824 used car sales in Spain according to GANVAM.

Do German cars come better equipped as standard?

We do not claim that: there is no comparable official standard-equipment list between the two countries. What there is, is far more choice, and therefore a better chance of finding the exact combination you want.

How many used cars are imported into Spain?

172,504 cars and light commercials in 2025, 28 % more than the year before, according to GANVAM using MSI data. There is no official breakdown by country of origin.

Why is it hard to find a nearly new premium car in Spain?

Because the Spanish used market is older: cars over 10 years old made up 57.3 % of 2025 sales, with an average age of 11 years.