In June, 0.5 million used cars were sold in Russia

In June, 0.5 million used cars were sold in the Russian Federation – the market shows such a result for the second month in a row. Dealers state that demand in the segment of used cars is stable, and even say that such offers in the current price conditions look more attractive than new cars. However, transactions with used cars are mainly for obsolete models, while liquid cars for up to three years are in short supply.

The market of passenger cars with mileage in June grew by 42.2%, up to 501.9 thousand units, Avtostat calculated based on the data of the Electronic Passport. Sales in the segment are at this level for the second month in a row, but still did not exceed the result of the pre-crisis December 2021, when 513 thousand used cars were sold.

Demand in the secondary market is now stable, says Nikolai Baskakov, director of Avilon Pre-Owned Cars: “Customers’ interest in buying does not decrease compared to the spring period and shows growth.” In the dealer segment, the main driver was the supply of models from abroad – both new and used, he continues. “The new cars provided a large number of trade-in transactions, which made it possible to increase stocks and turn them around quickly,” explains Mr. Baskakov. “Used cars brought by parallel imports also successfully went on sale.”

Denis Migal, the founder of the automotive marketplace Fresh, states that in the face of a shortage of new cars and a regular increase in their prices, Russians are increasingly interested in the range of the secondary market. Despite the fact that the average cost of a used car is increasing following the segment of new cars, it is still more profitable for Russians to buy used cars in good technical condition, Mr. Migal believes: “The average cost of a new car in the first half of 2023 amounted to 2.68 million rubles ., with mileage – 1.4 million rubles, that is, the difference in price is almost two times.

The main share of the market (21%) continues to be occupied by Lada – sales of brand cars increased by 18.7%, to 106.2 thousand units, Avtostat calculated in June.

However, from the model rating it is noticeable that we are mainly talking about outdated models – Lada 2114 Samara, Lada 2107, Lada 2170 Priora, Lada 4×4 and Lada 2190.

The used car market is formed mainly by cars older than ten years, pointed out formerly Sergey Udalov from Avtostat. This is also noticeable in the most popular used model in the Russian Federation in June – the Ford Focus. Its sales grew by 42.3% to 10.6 thousand units. Recall that the last new Ford cars were sold back in 2019, when the Ford passenger car left the Russian market, and Focus had not been in the top new sales for several years already (the last time in 2014 was 27.9 thousand cars sold ).

In the brand rating, in addition to Lada, traditionally the top 5 includes

• Toyota (sales growth by 56.9%, up to 60.3 thousand units),
• Korean Kia (growth by 44.8%, up to 28.7 thousand units) and Hyundai (growth by 42.7%, up to 28.4 thousand units),
• as well as Nissan (growth by 42.2%, up to 26.6 thousand units).

At the end of the first half of the year, according to Avtostat, the used car market grew by 26.6%, to almost 2.8 million units.

Vladimir Zhelobov, sales director for used cars at Avtodom and Avtospetstsentr, says that there is a shortage of liquid cars in good condition (aged from one to four years) on the market. These models enter dealerships through a trade-in program when customers buy new Chinese cars, he adds, stating that in Russia, sales of used cars are about eight times higher than sales. new machines.

Now sales of used cars are influenced by several factors – the recycling fee and exchange rates, Vladimir Zhelobov notes.

Demand in the segment as a whole declined amid expectations of an increase in the recycling fee and the cost of cars, respectively, he continues. But there will be a short-term surge in sales soon as customers want to buy expensive cars at old prices, the dealer said.

Olga Nikitina