Ukravtoprom notes higher demand for imported used cars in Ukraine
MOSCOW. Dec 11 (Interfax) - The number of initial registrations of used passenger cars imported to Ukraine from abroad in November 2023 went up 46% year-on-year to 21,700, which is 3% more than in October of this year, Ukrainian media reported, citing the Ukravtoprom association as saying on social media.
"The replenishment of the country's car fleet with used cars in November thus became the largest over the past 16 months," the statement said.
The largest share in the segment of imported used foreign cars in November belonged to gasoline cars accounting for 44% (the same as in October), followed by diesel cars - 31% (unchanged), electric cars - 16% (17%), gas-burning vehicles - 6% (5%) and hybrids - 3%, as a month earlier, the association said.
The top five remained the same: Volkswagen Golf cars (1,511), Renault Megane (1,261), Skoda Octavia (894), Volkswagen Passat (728), and Nissan Leaf (515).
The top 10 on this market in November also included Volkswagen Tiguan with 466 cars, Audi A4 with 421, Nissan Qashqai with 419, Ford Focus with 403, and Audi Q5 with 399.
The average age of used cars that switched to Ukrainian license plates in November is nine years.
In total, 191,000 used cars imported from abroad were first registered in Ukraine in January-November 2023, which is 3.5 times more than sales of new cars in the same period of the previous year.
Meanwhile, blocking the Polish-Ukrainian border, which actually halted the truck freight transportation, including that of car carriers, has caused more problems in November, the AUTO-Consulting information and analytical group said, while studying the used car market in Ukraine (imports of used cars and domestic resales).
"The blocking has already affected used market operators most severely. There is already a queue of applications for the delivery of cars to Ukraine, which the carriers are simply unable to fulfill. The cheapest way to get into the country is transportation by car carriers, but they have been blocked at the Polish border for three weeks already," the media quoted a statement on the group's website as saying.
Smaller car carriers (caravans with trailers) have started running, but there is a long queue for them and there are few of them in use, experts added.
"That is why certain operators recalled the old days and started ferrying cars on their own," the statement said.
Given these factors, which result in an increase in the cost of transportation and shortage of cars, experts predict the possible hike in prices for used cars as early as December.
"Ukraine has consumed between 21,000 and 23,000 imported used cars throughout the fall months this year. Another 67,000 to 70,000 cars were bought on the domestic market. In November, the number of transactions involving imported second hand cars went up slightly to around 24,000 cars, but most of them were imported before the blocking [of the Ukrainian-Polish border]," AUTO-Consulting experts said.
As reported with reference to Ukravtoprom data, Ukrainians registered 388,500 imported used passenger cars in 2022, which is almost a quarter less than a year earlier, but more than 10 times more than the market for new passenger cars.