Used cars are accelerating – Kommersant

The market for used cars in April grew by almost 41% due to the low base of the beginning of the crisis. In volume terms, sales remained close to their peak in March, but dealers say there is “stable demand”. The situation with the supply is worse – the influx of cars is limited by the weak ruble, which affects the pace of parallel imports and market saturation. If the shortage of liquid cars continues, then the prices on the secondary market, which have persisted in recent months, may again go up.

The market of passenger cars with mileage in April increased by 40.7%, up to 495.5 thousand cars, according to Avtostat. The result turned out to be slightly – 0.4%, or 2 thousand cars – below the March sales peak. At the same time, there is a gap between supply and demand. According to Avito Auto, the demand for cars with mileage under the age of ten years in April increased by 43%, and the number of ads – by 22%. The average price on the site amounted to 1.7 million rubles, which is 2.4% higher than in March. Among the models in demand, the leaders were Lada Granta (average price – 580 thousand rubles), Hyundai Solaris (1 million rubles), Kia Rio (1 million rubles), Toyota Camry (almost 2.5 million rubles) and Lada Priora (495 thousand rubles).

At Avto.ru, the average price of a used car has also remained stable since the beginning of April and amounted to 1.5 million rubles as of May 12. The structure of the offer by the country of origin of the brand is also preserved. Now the largest share – 26% – falls on Japanese used cars, 24% – on German ones, 15% – on Russian ones, 13% – on South Korean ones, 8% – on American ones, Avto.ru told Kommersant.

Sales of used cars are growing, but the dynamics are primarily due to the effect of a low base in the spring of 2022, says Nikolay Baskakov, director of Avilon Used Cars (the market sank sharply after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine and the departure of most foreign automakers from the Russian Federation). “But the offer is gradually expanding, especially when compared to last year, as well as the beginning of 2023. There are also fresh models up to three years old, which are traditionally in high demand,” he continues. “The development of deliveries of new cars through parallel imports has a positive effect on the volume of the secondary market,” says Mr. Baskakov.

There is still a high level of demand in the secondary market, liquid and high-quality cars in good condition are most in demand, but customers are in no hurry to part with them, Denis Migal, founder of the Fresh car marketplace, confirms. In addition, parallel imports slowed down in April, he notes: “The dollar was quite strong. Accordingly, if in April there was an outflow of purchases, then in May we will see, albeit insignificant, a drop in the inflow of fresh cars to three years.” Taking into account the current exchange rate of the ruble, the influx of cars should be expected in June-July, continues Mr. Migal.

Vladimir Zhelobov, director of the used car department at Avtodom Group of Companies and Avtospetstsentr Group of Companies, claims that there are fresh cars with mileage under the age of three years: “They come to us through trade-in when customers buy new Chinese cars.” However, he admits that supply in the secondary market is limited, and the number of announcements continues to decline: “If the result in May is at the level of April, it will be good.”

Denis Migal notes that due to seasonality and holidays, May traditionally shows results worse than April, but “in terms of working days, the dynamics are about the same.” He adds that in the first two weeks of May, used car sales at Fresh were down 15% by early April, but still 30% higher than a year earlier.

However, if the supply of “good cars” continues to be small, prices will go up in the secondary market, Nikolai Baskakov notes. We are talking about models with one, maximum two owners, little or no damage, dealer service and good equipment, he explains: “These cars are in high demand, and there are not many of them on the market. We can expect a price increase of no more than 10%. At the same time, Mr. Baskakov clarifies, expensive cars will become an exception: the demand for them is lower, so prices are unlikely to change upwards and may even decrease slightly.

Olga Nikitina