So far, the "seven": the used car market is preparing for the law on taxi localization
The results of January in the used car market turned out to be unexpected: the Vaz Seven, which for a long time was the most popular car on the secondary market, sharply lost ground. At the same time, the number of transactions for the purchase and sale of affordable models of brands that have left Russia has increased significantly. Experts explain this trend by the desire of taxi companies to keep cars in their fleet that do not meet the requirements of the law on taxi localization. The details are in the Izvestia article.
January surprises
According to the results of the first month of this year, 437 thousand used passenger cars were sold in Russia. This is reported by the analytical agency Autostat. This is 4% more than in January 2025, the agency's experts say.
Almost a quarter (24.2%) of the secondary car market at the beginning of the year was accounted for by the Lada brand (105.6 thousand cars). Toyota took the second place (40.4 thousand units; 10% share). Kia and Hyundai also crossed the 5% threshold (26.7 thousand and 25.7 thousand units, respectively). The top ten most popular used cars on the market included Nissan (20.1 thousand cars), Volkswagen (18.8 thousand units), Renault (16.8 thousand units), Chevrolet (16.2 thousand cars), Ford (13.9 thousand units and BMW (12.1 thousand cars).
Lada (-5%) and Toyota (-5%) showed negative dynamics. The rest of the car brands turned out to be in the black in January, and Renault has the best indicator (+23%).
The surprise came from a "personal set—off" - the model structure of used cars sold last month. For example, Lada-2107, which led this rating for a long time, suddenly dropped to the sixth position with a result of 7.8 thousand cars (-22%). The top five in January are as follows: Kia Rio (10.1 thousand units, +26%), Hyundai Solaris (9.8 thousand cars, also +26%), Ford Focus (8.3 thousand units, +11%), Niva and Lada 2114 (8.1 thousand units each, +4 and -8%, respectively). The top ten also included Lada 2170 Priora (7.7 thousand cars, -4%), Toyota Camry (7.2 thousand units, +16%), Volkswagen Polo (6.8 thousand units, +36%) and Lada 2190 Granta (6.7 thousand cars, +12%).
"Technical" operations
As Sergey Tselikov, General Director of Autostat, told Izvestia, the "departure" from the leading positions of the Lada-2107 model is associated with "changes in transaction processing technologies."
— There used to be a lot of "technical" operations for sevens and other Lada cars that were difficult to calculate. Now we have learned how to do this," he explained.
Experts interviewed by Izvestia attributed the sharp increase (by 26-36% at once) in the number of Kia Rio, Hyundai Solaris and Volkswagen Polo sold on the secondary market to the desire of taxi companies to keep models in their fleet that do not meet the requirements of the law on taxi localization. The fact is that a significant part of these cars are leased, and the expiration of the lease agreement means a change of ownership and, as a result, the automatic exclusion of this car from the taxi registry, they explain.
— Apparently, taxi companies, realizing that certain models that will definitely not be included in the list of cars allowed for purchase from March 1 to work in a taxi, decided to play it safe by renegotiating leasing agreements in advance. This will give them the opportunity to operate cars like Kia Rio or Hyundai Solaris on the line for some time. In any case, it is difficult to find another explanation for the sharp increase in sales of such models on the secondary market. This is most likely just a re—registration of the car to a new owner," says Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine.
Anton Shaparin, Vice President of the National Automobile Union (NAS), agrees with him. He calls it "the last opportunity for taxi companies to jump on an outgoing train."
— Cars like Kia Rio, Hyundai Solaris or Volkswagen Polo have proven themselves very well as cars with "checkers". They are easy to operate, simple, and, most importantly, easy to maintain. It is much more profitable for a taxi company to maintain such a car in a normal working condition that guarantees its safety, even despite a solid mileage, than to purchase a replacement in the form of a car authorized for use as a taxi," he believes.
Now the used car market is literally "warming up" due to the upcoming change in legislation in the taxi industry, says Irina Frank, CEO of Frank Auto.
— The key factor is the entry into force on March 1 of the localization law, which imposes new requirements on vehicles used in commercial transportation. The most popular taxi fleet models of recent years, namely Kia Rio, Hyundai Solaris and Volkswagen Polo, which are ideally suited in terms of price and resource, are now subject to restrictions, and taxi companies have begun systematically updating their fleets, bringing these vehicles to the secondary market," she said.
They do not output, but save
The Public Council for Taxi Development does not see a desire for a mass sale of cars on the eve of the law's entry into force. On the contrary, most carriers, according to surveys, have taken a wait-and-see attitude and are awaiting the publication of the final official list of localized models by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Chairman of the Board Irina Zaripova told Izvestia.
— If the car is already listed in the regional taxi registry, the carrier has no economic logic to get rid of it. Such machines will be able to continue working after March 1 without any changes. Moreover, the amendment adopted at the end of the year provides for the possibility to return the car to the registry when the owner changes, including if the car was previously leased," she noted.
The increase in sales of individual models on the secondary market in itself is not a direct confirmation that it is taxi companies or taxi carriers that sell cars because of the localization law, Irina Zaripova believes. The industry is currently dominated by a strategy of preserving already registered cars, rather than selling them urgently, said the chairman of the Public Council for Taxi Development.
Izvestia sent inquiries to Maxim and Yandex Taxi, but no responses had been received at the time of publication.
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