Low-emission vehicles are becoming increasingly popular in Australia’s second-hand car market as motorists strive to conserve fuel.

But hybrid vehicles, rather than electric models, are proving to be in highest demand and the most resistant to price reductions.

The Australian Automotive Dealer Association and AutoGrab revealed the trends on Tuesday in used car sales figures from May, which also showed the automotive market had bounced back from a sales dip in April.

The news comes one week after new hybrid and electric vehicles sales broke records to represent almost half of all new cars sold in Australia during the month.

The latest sales report showed Australian drivers bought 221,323 second-hand vehicles during May – a rise of more than 17,700 cars compared to April.

Standard hybrid vehicles made up one in 10 used cars up to five years of age, while electric and plug-in hybrid models represented six per cent of sales.

The trend towards low-emission cars reflected consumer efforts to avoid petrol and diesel price rises caused by conflict in the Middle East, association chief executive James Voortman said.

“It’s no surprise to see hybrids performing so strongly,” he said.

“With household budgets still under pressure, many consumers are looking for ways to reduce fuel costs and hybrids offer a practical and proven solution.”

Hybrid cars were also the most likely to withstand discounting to secure a sale, the report found, and retained 93.4 per cent of their value.

By contrast, more than half of second-hand petrol and diesel vehicles were discounted before finding a buyer in May, which Mr Voortman said showed consumers were in the driver’s seat.

“The increase in discounting reflects a strong level of competition in the used vehicle market at the moment,” he said.

“Buyers are in a good position to compare options and negotiate on price.”

The report came on the same day BYD Australia revealed it had signed a three-year deal with Pickles to auction its second-hand fleet vehicles.

The agreement was another sign that Australia’s used electric vehicle market had evolved, Pickles motor vehicles general manager Chris Shaw said, and the move would make them accessible to a wider motoring audience

“We’re seeing increased confidence in used electric vehicles from both private buyers and the trade as the market develops, pricing becomes more accessible, and understanding of EV ownership continues to improve,” he said.

AAP

The biggest car news and reviews, no BS

Our free daily newsletter sends the stories that really matter directly to you, every weekday.

The United States Department of Justice has subpoenaed Apple and Google to provide information on at least 100,000 users who downloaded the EZ Lynk Auto Agent app. It’s only the latest measure the federal government has taken against EZ Lynk, as the DOJ sued the company in 2021 while claiming it refused to cooperate with an Environmental Protection Agency investigation. At the heart of the fight are accusations that EZ Lynk purposely assisted customers in modifying their vehicles to violate the Clean Air Act.

User privacy is the major concern with this move by the DOJ, as Forbes highlights. The outlet points to a joint letter from EZ Lynk and the DOJ to the court, in which the former disputes the subpoenas’ validity, while the latter states that its lawyers want to interview individuals about how they used EZ Lynk’s products. Consumer rights advocates question why the DOJ would need anyone’s identities, addresses, and purchase histories to do so.

“These requests for potentially hundreds of thousands of people’s PII go well beyond the needs of this case and create serious privacy concerns,” EZ Lynk’s lawyers wrote. “Investigating this claim does not require identifying each person who has used the product.”

However, the DOJ says that anyone who agreed to EZ Lynk’s terms and conditions “no longer [has] a cognizable privacy interest as to that information.”

The DOJ also subpoenaed Walmart and Amazon to provide names and addresses for people who bought the EZ Lynk Auto Agent hardware.

There’s no question that drivers use EZ Lynk’s technology to defeat the emissions systems on their vehicles. You can find evidence of it across the web, with diesel truck drivers using it to reflash their engine control unit after removing the diesel particulate filter or exhaust gas recirculation system. But not everyone who has purchased an EZ Lynk Auto Agent or downloaded the app uses it for that purpose. It’s advertised to shop technicians for vehicle diagnostics, as well as fleet managers who need to monitor drivers’ electronic logging devices. It’s effectively a do-it-all OBDII tool that people can deploy for many reasons, including illegal ones.

Some may find the government’s continued pursuit of EZ Lynk surprising, given the EPA’s softened stance on enforcement. As far back as 2023, the agency has said that emissions defeat devices are no longer a top priority. It later announced that it would no longer pursue criminal charges over OBDII tampering. We’ve even seen President Trump pardon a convicted diesel tuner who was jailed for removing emissions components from trucks.

Nevertheless, the fight between the DOJ and EZ Lynk continues.

Got a tip or question for the author? Contact them directly: caleb@thedrive.com