Before the New Year holidays, the demand for used cars in Russia froze. Major car search services note a decrease in requests compared to November. Dealers, whose share in this market is 10-20%, on the contrary, record an influx of customers for used cars – this is facilitated by both the replenishment of the fleet through trade-in against the backdrop of discounts on new Chinese cars, and the dynamics of the ruble exchange rate.
There was no surge in demand for used cars on the eve of the New Year, follows from a survey conducted by Kommersant among car search services. Thus, demand and supply for used cars at Avito Auto from December 1 to 20 remained at a stable level compared to the same period in November. According to Avto.ru’s calculations, the demand turned out to be 7% lower than in November.
Traditionally, the segment of used cars declined in December, which is almost imperceptible this year: demand is at the level of November, says ROAD Vice President Alexei Podshchekoldin. Against the backdrop of continued shortages and high prices for new cars, the secondary segment looks attractive, by the end of the year the number of transactions will be about 5 million against 6 million last year.
According to Avtostat, over 11 months, the market for used cars fell by 19.7%, to 4.4 million units.
Sergey Udalov from Avtostat notes that the used car market has been relatively stable in recent months at the level of 430-450 thousand cars per month, and December is likely to be in the same range. He notes that imports in the segment are still insignificant – about 30 thousand cars, but they are growing and are already affecting prices, slightly reducing them.
At the same time, the share of dealers in the market remains insignificant – about 10%, says Mr. Podshchekoldin, and only the abolition of “double VAT” in transactions between legal entities could change the situation. At the same time, a slight recovery in demand in the primary market in December due to additional discounts from Chinese distributors also affects the segment of used cars, says Mr. Podshchekoldin: “The number of trade-in transactions increased by about 10-15% compared to November” .
Against the backdrop of trade-in, large dealers record an increase in sales in the secondary market. For example, sales of used cars from December 1 to December 20 at Fresh Auto increased by 10% compared to the same period last year, the average bill – by 28%, says the head of the dealer Denis Migal. He connects the growth of the check not only with the market situation, but also with an increase in the share of premium cars in the company’s warehouses. “Demand has also changed: today, consumers prefer more reliable cars – for example, SUVs were bought more this year than in the past,” adds Migal. Demand for used cars in December is higher than in November, the director of Avilon agrees. Pre-owned cars” Nikolai Baskakov, due to the weakening of the ruble, which has significantly increased the demand for cars worth more than 3 million rubles. He also notes that the trade-in direction for new cars is being revived due to the growth in sales of Chinese cars, and redemption has been actively developing throughout the autumn.
Services record that, compared to January 2022, December turned out to be a relatively high season.
According to Avito Auto, from December 1 to December 20, 2022, the number of ads for the sale of used cars on the platform increased by 41.6% compared to the same period in January, and demand became more active by 9.2%. At Avto.ru, by the end of the year, the number of used cars offered for sale increased by 36% compared to the beginning of the year, although the share of offers from dealers dropped noticeably – by 5 percentage points, to 21%. Avto.ru clarifies that by the end of the year, the share of dealers in the market began to gradually approach the pre-crisis figures of 30%.
Worries about a shortage of used cars are unfounded, says Mr. Migal: “The secondary market is domestic and self-replenishing, there are more than 50 million of these cars in stock, and this is quite enough to satisfy all the needs of customers.” He notes that although individuals have become less likely to sell cars, the percentage of those who sell is still high, and dealer warehouses still continue to replenish through imports, albeit not as fast as before.