Chinese cars starting to conquer the second-hand car market
Their share is gradually growing, this trend will continue in the next five years
The cost of new cars in August 2024 decreased, and used cars increased slightly, Avito Auto stated. Chinese brands have firmly established themselves in the new car market and continue to increase their share among used cars. “It will definitely grow in the next five years. Trust is gradually being gained, people try these cars for a number of reasons — we drive them in taxis, we take them for car sharing,” said Avito Auto data analyst Artyom Sokolov. Read more about the current situation in the car market in Realnoe Vremy’s report.
“It's not just Chinese brands that are to blame”
In August, the number of new car sales ads on Avito Auto in the Volga Federal District increased by as much as 110% compared to the same period last year — to 42,000. This is higher than the dynamics in Russia as a whole, which was +42%. The average cost of a new car, on the contrary, decreased — by 6.3%, to 2.95 million rubles. This is also slightly higher than the Russian indicator (-6%).
“It's not just Chinese brands that are to blame for this, but, of course, their main message,” said Avito Auto data analyst Artyom Sokolov.
In general, the price drop is a trend of last year, when affordable Chinese cars replaced expensive Europeans. However, it continued at the beginning of the year.
“The reason for this is that AvtoVAZ has reached more planned volumes since January. Thus, in the Volga Federal District, it increased its share from 16% to 26%,” the expert explained
Now we can say that Chinese brands have stabilised in the new car market — in August 2024, as a year ago, their share was 69%. At the same time, the share of cars from other countries fell — from 14% to 5%.
“Dealer stocks are now filled with more budget cars”
The number of offers for the sale of used cars in the Volga Federal District also increased — by 38%, to 302 thousand (in Russia — by 31%). The cost increased by 7.5% — if in August 2023 a used car could be bought for an average of 1.07 million, then at the end of summer 2024 it was already for 1.15 million.
“Until January, we had a slight increase, then there was a decrease,” Artyom Sokolov noted and explained why the cost of cars increased slightly. “If you look at the breakdown by seller type, including private, professional and dealers, then in fact there was a decrease only among dealers. In general, the downward trend has been going on since January in all segments, but in the end, professionals and private sellers are in the black. Dealer stocks are now filled with more budget-friendly used cars, so the average price dynamics are negative.”
“Trust is gradually earned”
The share of the Chinese in the used car market is growing — a year ago it was 3%, and now it is already 5%.
“It will definitely grow, in the next five years for sure,” Artyom Sokolov said in a conversation with Realnoe Vremya. “It seems to me that globally it will be very similar to the picture with Korean cars. Trust is gradually being earned, people try these cars based on a number of factors — we ride them in taxis, we take them for car sharing. That is, they look at them in person, they are already driving hundreds of thousands of kilometres. Moreover, these are very Spartan conditions for operating cars, no one spares them there. Nevertheless, such small steps are winning more and more trust. And of course, yes, the market will grow.”
The increased interest was confirmed by Vladislav Ivanov, head of Key Regional Account Management of Avito Auto:
“There are more and more stories of operating Chinese cars. For example, last year, when we were in Kazan, we discussed whether a Chinese car would travel more than 60,000 kilometres. Today we see that cross-interest in Chinese brands is growing, which means that we have travelled and want to travel more.”