What cars are Poles looking for? OTOMOTO shows where demand exceeds supply
The range of cars available on the used car market today is extensive, but buyers’ interest is not evenly distributed across different categories. Some vehicles attract significantly more attention than the number of available listings would suggest, while in other segments, the supply exceeds buyers’ interest.
OTOMOTO’s data show that these differences can be substantial, depending on factors such as the car’s mileage and age, as well as its engine type or body style. The Demand Index helps identify which parts of the market see the strongest buyer interest outpacing available supply.
Demand Index: Where is interest highest relative to supply?
The Demand Index (DI) is a metric that compares the share of a particular car category in views to its share in the available supply. A value above 1 indicates that this group of cars accounts for a larger proportion of views than would be expected based on its share in the supply. A value below 1 indicates the opposite situation—the share of these cars in the supply is greater than the attention they draw. Therefore, the Demand Index is not a measure of total demand nor a ranking of the most popular cars. It shows in which parts of the market user interest is relatively higher or lower than the available supply.
In a mature market, interest in the car category should be assessed not only by the number of views but also in relation to the available supply of offers. The Demand Index provides this perspective by comparing buyer interest with the number of offers in a particular segment. A high score does not necessarily mean the segment is the most popular; rather, it suggests it attracts buyers more strongly than its supply would indicate. For sellers, this is a valuable indicator of where demand and supply are currently in the most favorable balance.— says Agnieszka Czajka, Vice President Motors Professionals Europe at OLX Group/OTOMOTO.
500,000–1,000,000 km – here demand far exceeds supply
The most significant difference is evident in terms of mileage. Vehicles with 500,000–1,000,000 km have a Demand Index of 1.31, meaning their share of views is significantly higher than their share in available listings. Vehicles with 1,000,000–1,500,000 km (1.06) and those with up to 500,000 km (1.05) also fall above the equilibrium level.
As mileage increases, the ratio begins to reverse. For vehicles with 1,500,000–2,000,000 km, the DI is 0.91; for those with 3,000,000 km or more, it is 0.87; and for vehicles with 2,000,000–3,000,000 km, it is 0.80. A similar pattern is observed with vehicle age. The highest indices are achieved by 5–6-year-old vehicles (1.18) and 7–8-year-old vehicles (1.12). 4–5-year-old vehicles also score above 1 (1.09). At the other end are nearly new vehicles aged 0–1 year, with a DI of 0.89.
The data thus indicate quite precisely the market segment where interest is particularly high relative to availability: it is vehicles that are a few years old, having already completed their first few years of use but still having relatively low mileage.
Electric vehicles attract more attention than their availability suggests
Electric vehicles achieve the highest Demand Index among the analyzed drive types – 1.45. This does not mean that electric vehicles have become the most popular drive type in the used car market. Their share of the market remains small. However, the data show that interest in them is greater than their availability would suggest.
Above level 1 are also vehicles with gasoline + LPG systems (1.22), gasoline-only (1.15), hybrid (1.08), and plug-in hybrid (1.06) engines. The situation for diesel vehicles is distinctly different. With a Demand Index of 0.77, their share of the available market is higher than their share of total views.
Coupés lead the Demand Index. SUVs are almost evenly distributed.
The biggest differences appear when looking at vehicle body types. Coupés achieve a Demand Index of 1.94 – the highest among all analyzed categories. Convertibles (1.51), sedans (1.50), and hatchbacks (1.31) also show high values.
SUVs – despite the significant rise in the importance of this category in the market – score 0.99. This indicates an almost perfect balance between their share in the offerings and their share in views. The situation is different for traditional family vehicles. Station wagons achieve a DI of 0.78, while minivans score 0.76 – the lowest figures among the vehicle types analyzed.
A high Demand Index for coupés does not mean they are viewed more often than SUVs. It indicates that interest in them is high relative to the number of available offerings. In the case of SUVs, however, high interest goes hand in hand with an equally high supply.
For sellers, not only demand matters but also competition for buyers
From the perspective of professional data sellers, the popularity of a particular car model alone does not provide a complete picture of the market situation. It is also important to consider how many similar listings are competing for the attention of the same buyers.
This relationship can vary significantly even among seemingly similar market segments. A car a few years old with moderate mileage operates in a different supply and demand environment today compared to one with over 200,000 kilometers on the odometer. The same applies to electric vs. diesel vehicles, or coupés vs. sedans.
The Demand Index helps capture these differences and adds to the market overview with information that cannot be obtained from just the number of listings or views: where is buyer interest highest relative to the number of available cars?
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