It has become easier for Russians to save up for a used car

In the first half of 2026, it became easier for Russians to save up for a used car of a Russian or foreign brand compared to the same period last year. This was reported on August 20 in a study by experts "Auto.Ru" and hh.ru (Izvestia has it), which has updated its car accessibility index.

The car accessibility index shows the ratio of the average price of marker cars - used Hyundai Solaris and Lada Vesta — to the median salary offered by employers in vacancies. Each unit of the index is equal to one median salary in the region. The lower the indicator, the more affordable the car is.

According to the study, in the first half of 2026, the average Russian needed 12 median salaries to buy a used Lada Vesta, while in the first half of 2025 this figure was 14.1 salaries. The situation has also improved significantly in the case of a used Hyundai Solaris: the index value decreased from 17.2 to 15.1.

Experts attribute the decrease in values to an increase in household incomes with relatively stable car prices. By the end of the first half of 2026, the median salary in the country reached 87.2 thousand rubles against 75 thousand rubles a year earlier. At the same time, the average price of a domestic used car by June 2026 has not changed and amounted to 1.06 million rubles. The cost of a foreign marker car increased by 1.5% over the year and amounted to 1.31 million rubles. At the beginning of the year, the index was noticeably higher than the average for the past six months, but in the spring the situation began to level out.

According to the results of the first half of 2026, Lada Vesta was most affordable for residents of the Central (10.6 median salary), Far Eastern (10.9), Northwestern (11.6) and Ural (13) federal districts. Residents of the Siberian (13.2), Volga (13.6), Southern (14.4) and North Caucasian (16) federal districts will need to save longer than others.

There is a similar trend for Hyundai Solaris: residents of the Central (12.9 median salary), Far Eastern (13.6), Northwestern (14.3) and Ural (16.2) federal districts will accumulate the fastest for it. Residents of the Siberian (16.6), Volga (17.1), Southern (18.6) and North Caucasian (20.8) federal districts will need to save longer than others.

We can grow up to a hundred years old: the aging of the fleet has accelerated dramatically in Russia

The average age of cars in the Russian Federation has exceeded 15 years

As reported on August 6, by the end of July 2026, almost 95 thousand passenger cars, both new and used, were imported to Russia. This is the maximum monthly result this year.