Discounts have arrived at the car market – Kommersant FM
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Sales of passenger cars in Russia increased by 77%, this dynamics was recorded by Autostat at the end of January 2024. In total, more than 80 thousand cars were sold, writes “Kommersant”. However, the growth is explained by a low base; a year earlier, in January 2023, production fell and imports have not yet recovered. The market is still not in the best shape; compared to January 2022, sales were lower by almost 7%. Meanwhile, the Russian Automobile Dealers Association is talking about price stabilization. What to expect from the car market in the near future? Daniil Babkin talks about this.
Prices for new cars have not increased since the beginning of the year, even despite the January tradition. However, it was precisely to reduce inflation that the Central Bank raised the key rate to high levels. In Russia, approximately half of new cars are purchased on credit, and it is not surprising that dealers have to reduce prices to support demand; loans are now too expensive, says Elena Protsenko, head of the Otkritie Auto press service:
“Since July last year, the Central Bank has consistently raised the key rate from 7.5% to 16% today. If before the increase it was possible to register a car at 9.9%, now it will be difficult to find a rate below 16%. But this is a temporary measure and we will return to low rates as soon as key inflation targets are achieved.”
The other day, Elvira Nabiullina said that they would begin to ease monetary policy in the second half of 2024. Economists, citing the latest inflation data, did not rule out an earlier reduction in the key rate. In January, the price tags for several models noticeably changed. For example, Moskvich 6 is offered with a discount of 200 thousand rubles, Chery Tiggo 8 – 240 thousand rubles, and Exeed TXL – up to 100 thousand rubles. The second reason for the decline in prices, in addition to expensive loans, is the huge inventories at dealers and the ambitions of manufacturers, says auto expert Vyacheslav Zhigalov:
“The plans that manufacturers have adopted for this year are, to put it mildly, very high. The machines go on sale approximately six months after placing the order. Therefore, those cars that were ordered in the middle of the year are now in warehouses. This probably has an even greater impact on prices. A normal contribution is two monthly sales volumes, while for us they reach four and even six months. Therefore, dealers are desperately trying to stimulate demand naturally by lowering prices, including selling at a loss.”
Prices for used cars began to decline last fall, and sales fell even before the New Year. This year the trend will continue: the market volume may decrease by 10%, and used cars will become cheaper by about the same amount, Oleg Moseev, head of the Automarketer project, does not rule out:
“Now prices have not only stopped growing, in some segments they are even winning back. The secondary market can react quite quickly to adjustments in the cost of new cars. The redistribution is moving towards a new market with the addition of cars in those segments where they were sorely lacking, these are, first of all, small sedans. And if the same Chinese are going to sell the number of cars that they planned, they will reduce prices. I think that we can talk about reducing the cost on the secondary market by 10-15%.”
Nevertheless, last year, Russians’ spending on used cars increased by a quarter, to a record 5.8 trillion rubles, according to Autostat. In December, the cost of purchasing used cars increased only among European and Chinese brands; American and Korean models lost the most money, by about 6%.
Everything is clear with us – Telegram channel “Kommersant FM”.
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