Used cars sold worse this fall

The used car market in September grew by 10.9%, to 509.5 thousand cars, but the pace of sales compared to August, as Kommersant expected, slowed down. Thus, sales were immediately 7.6% lower than in the previous month, but demand still remains at a fairly high level. The main market share continues to be occupied by Japanese, Korean, European and American brands that were popular in past years, as well as the domestic Lada. Analysts believe that high demand for used cars will continue, including due to the lack of familiar brands in the primary market.

Sales of used passenger cars in September increased by 10.9% year-on-year, to 509.5 thousand units, according to Autostat data. Among brands in the secondary market, the domestic Lada continues to lead – sales of brand cars increased by 8.4%, to 115.3 thousand units. Next in popularity for resale are Toyota (59.1 thousand cars), Kia (27.9 thousand units), Hyundai (27.3 thousand units) and Nissan (27.1 thousand units). Overall, the entire top 10 onwards consists of Japanese, European and American brands that have seen strong sales in the new car market over the past ten years. This formed a voluminous car park. Currently, none of the brands represented among the bestsellers of the secondary market, with the exception of Lada, officially supplies new cars to the Russian Federation.

Chinese brands, leading new car sales in 2023, are not yet among the leaders in the secondary market due to the relatively small volumes of the accumulated fleet.

In addition, the main share of the secondary market is traditionally occupied by cars older than seven years (about 80% of total sales).

At the same time, the total sales volume in September turned out to be 7.6% less than sales in the peak August for the secondary market (551.3 thousand units). This was expected by Kommersant against the backdrop of rising prices and the cost of lending on the market (see “Kommersant” dated October 11). The cost of cars on the secondary market grew, including against the backdrop of an increase in recycling collection from August 1, as well as a decrease in supply due to the rise in exchange rates, which limited the influx of cars through parallel imports, and a ban on the supply of popular cars from Japan to the Russian Federation.

The market for new passenger cars in September only slowed down its growth rate in August: sales were 0.5% higher (see “Kommersant” dated October 4). However, market participants also recorded a downward trend in demand, also due to the rise in price of cars due to an increase in recycling collection and the weakening of the ruble, while the stock of cars at old prices was depleted. In addition, the segment’s capacity is several times smaller: only 717.3 thousand new passenger cars were sold in nine months.

In the secondary market, according to the results of January-September, according to Autostat, 4.3 million passenger cars were sold – this is 23.6% higher than a year earlier.

Car dealers noted that demand in the segment remained at a fairly high level in October.

However, demand will cool down slightly compared to the summer months, says automotive expert Vladimir Bespalov. According to him, the effect of the hype against the background of the depreciation of the ruble has stabilized. “The market should gradually come to equilibrium,” the analyst continues. “However, the demand for used cars will remain, including as an alternative to the primary market, where there are no new cars of familiar brands.” At the same time, Mr. Bespalov does not expect that the saturation of supply in the new car segment will lead to a significant increase in sales of cars aged about three years. “Still, the main demand will remain in the five-six year old segment, also due to the high cost of younger proposals,” he concludes.

Olga Nikitina