Tatarstan leads in car affordability index in Volga region
Analysts of Auto.ru and hh.ru told Realnoe Vremya about results of 2nd the car affordability index in the Volga Federal Region in the first half of the year.
The index illustrates the ratio of the average car price to the average salary in the Volga regions. The lower the number, the more affordable a car is.
So the most affordable Lada Vesta in April was in Tatarstan (the index was 17.5) and the Republic of Bashkortostan (17.8). People in Nizhny Novgorod and Perm regions have to save money for a longer period of time to buy the car — the index was 19.1 and 19.9 respectively. Citizens of Samara region will have to add one more salary — the index is 20.3. While residents of Saratov region will need 22.9 of the average salary.
As for foreign cars, Tatarstan and Bashkortostan are also first and second. They will need around 23 salaries on average (22.6 and 23.5). Hyundai Solaris in Perm, Nizhny Novgorod, Samara, Saratov regions will cost 25.4, 25.6, 26.2 and 30.2 salaries on average respectively.
As analysts note, the affordability of cars stabilised by the start of spring because the average salary in the Central Federal Region increased by 7% in March 2024 compared to February.
According to them, this is a consequence of a salary race amid a more serious deficit of workforce before a new season of recruitment, while prices for chosen cars didn’t almost change (the fall/rise ratio is up to 1%). In March 2024, the average index of a Russian car in the Volga Federal District was 20.1, while that of a foreign one was 26.2.
Earlier, Auto.ru Otsenka service told Realnoe Vremya that second-hand car prices remained at the same level, while new cars became 3% more expensive on average. The average second-hand car price has stayed at 1.5 million rubles for the third month in a row.