Diesel Not Dirty Word in Spainʼs Used-Vehicle Market

MADRID – Fallout from the Dieselgate scandal is dissipating in Spain, where the share of diesel-powered cars in the used-vehicle market grew four percentage points to 70.5% from January through September, a period that ended with revelations Volkswagen was cheating on emissions tests.

The increase indicates Spanish used-car shoppers do not “feel impacted by the uncertainty surrounding this engine or the demonization that local and national authorities are creating around it,” says David Herranz, marketing director for AutoScout24 Spain, a subsidiary of Germany-based AutoScout24, an online vehicle-retailing website.

“They are still finding more advantages than disadvantages to diesel.”

One of those advantages might be that diesel fuel costs less than gasoline. The average price of diesel in the first four months of 2016 was about €1 per liter ($3.80 per gallon) and since May has held at about €1.05 per liter ($3.99).

“Used-car market data and drivers’ perceptions drive us to conclude that diesel is still present in our lives as usual, which makes sense if you also think trends in the new-car market take an average of four or five years to be perceived in the used market too,” says Gerardo Cabanas, general manager-AutoScout24 Spain.

“If some day diesel engines are discontinued, it will be a result of the authorities or auto industry initiatives, not of the motorists.”

According to AutoScout24, almost two out of three Spaniards still assume misleading emissions-test reporting is widespread in the auto industry, while only three in 10 say they will not consider buying a diesel vehicle.