"Seven" and "samurai": how to explain the growth in demand for cars with used cars
Russians have become more active in buying used cars, according to the agency "Avtostat". The most popular are old Ladas: "sevens", "Nivas", "Samars" and "Priors". Sales of once popular on the secondary market Toyota models, on the contrary, are declining. Is it worth buying a used car now, "Izvestia" found out.
"Japanese" in the minus
In October, the market of passenger cars with used cars reached 605.3 thousand units. This is 14.3% more than in September (529.4 thousand units), and 23.8% more than in October last year (489.1 thousand units). In the aftermarket, AvtoVAZ products are the leaders - almost 150 thousand in October, a third more than in 2023. The second place is occupied by Toyota with the result of 61 thousand cars. Kia (35.5 thousand units), Hyundai (33.2 thousand units) and Nissan (27.8 thousand units) round out the top five. Volkswagen, Chevrolet, Renault, Honda and Ford are also in the top 10 of the secondary market.
If all brands showed growth in comparison with September this year and October 2023, then according to the results of 10 months, all Japanese brands are in the minus. Toyota has the biggest drop (-10%), nevertheless, it continues to occupy a significant share of the used car market: more than half a million cars of this brand were sold from January to October.
"Seven" sells, "Toyotas" are being driven
Lada 2107 sedan from the "classic" family holds the title of the most popular used car on the Russian market for the ninth month. In October, 14.3 thousand such cars were sold, which is 57.5% more than in October last year. For 10 months, more than 113 thousand "sevens" have already been sold, which is 40% more than last year. In addition, the top ten most popular models with mileage included four more Lada models: 2114 "Samara", "Niva" 4×4, "Priora" and "Granta".
The most popular foreign car with mileage was Kia Rio (12.2 thousand units in October), and the third line with a small gap is occupied by Hyundai Solaris. Sales of these cars in comparison with October last year increased by one third. For 10 months, Rio sales exceeded 100 thousand, and Solaris almost reached this mark.
The popular models of Toyota, Corolla and Camry occupy only the 7th and 9th places. October was successful for them, but at the end of 10 months these models are in minus to last year. The Ford Focus is also in minus, up 9.2% over the same period last year. It is interesting that Camry is sold worse than Priora: 9.8 thousand vs. 8.3 thousand units.
Perhaps, the owners have stopped selling these models, suggests Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of "Za Rulem".
They choose what is cheaper
Maxim Kadakov believes that the market is shifting towards the cheapest cars.
- Even illiquid cars have come to some kind of movement. The same "seven" can cost absolutely ridiculous money, for a hundred thousand it will be a good option. They won't take it in trade-in, and not everyone has [money] for a new car. Someone as a result of the deal gets at least some money, and someone - at least some transportation, - said Kadakov.
According to Avtostat, theaverage price of a used car in Russia has been declining for the eighth month in a row. In October compared to September, it decreased by Br18 thousand (-1.2%) and amounted to Br1 million 457 thousand. If we compare October 2024 with the same month last year, the cars with mileage fell in price by Br145 thousand (-9.1%). At the same time, the average price of a new car currently exceeds Br3 million.
Utilization fee is to blame
The growth in sales of used cars is primarily due to the increase in the utilization fee, says Igor Morzharetto, partner of the analytical agency "Avtostat".
- Someone decided to import a used model before the price rise, someone, realizing that a new car is not affordable, went to the market of secondary cars. At the same time, we traditionally have a ratio of sales of new and used cars is 1 to 4. Thus, if we are talking about sales of 1.5 million new cars at the end of the year, the number of used cars will be about 6 million, - says the expert.
At the same time, there is a tendency to reduce the number of transactions in the secondary market with the growth of new car sales and vice versa, says Morzharetto.
- Thus, it can be assumed that simultaneously with the decrease in sales of [new] cars due to the growth of car prices and the rise in the price of car loans, sales of used cars will continue to grow in the near future," he suggested.
Cooling demand
Market players, in addition to the increase in scrappage duty, see the reasons for the October growth in the growing deficit in some segments and in the expectation of consumers to increase the cost of used cars. At the same time, they speak about the decrease in sales on the secondary market in November.
- In September, there was a surge of buying activity in the secondary car market in anticipation of higher prices due to the increase in the rates of salvage duty. In October we managed to reach the sales figures of the previous month, but it was not easy.
In November, some cooling of demand on the secondary market is expected, Roman Titov, Deputy General Director of Avilon AG for used cars, told Izvestia. He assumed that in December the situation will remain difficult, without sales growth.
At the moment the market of cars with used cars in comparison with October has shown a slight decrease, said the director of the department of cars with used cars of GC "AvtoDom" and GC "AutoSpecCenter" Andrey Grishakov.
- In November we expect a decrease in the number of sales of used cars compared to the previous months, in December we forecast stable demand at the level of November, - he said.
Nevertheless, Andrei Grishakov noted that the demand in the market of used cars is stable and, taking into account the growing deficit in some segments, the decrease in the activity of buyers is not predicted.
Where used cars are coming from
The Russian used car market is replenished mainly due to imports from Japan. Over the month, the share of this country in the structure of car imports increased to 60.2%, while the share of Belarus decreased to 4.8% over the same time. The top five most popular imported models are Honda Freed, Honda Fit, Toyota Corolla, Nissan Note and Honda Stepwgn. A total of 332.7 thousand cars with mileage were imported into Russia from January to October, which is 2.9% less than in the same period last year.
