In 2021, the Russians bought 6.06 million used cars, follows from the analytics of Avtostat info (collected on the basis of data on vehicle registrations). This is almost 25%, or 1.21 million units, more than was sold in 2020. Of the total sales of used cars, foreign cars accounted for 4.31 million units (+27% compared to 2020), the remaining 1.74 million are Russian cars (+19%).
More than a quarter of this market segment is occupied by Lada. In total, 1.51 million vehicles of this brand were sold in 2021, which is 19% more than a year earlier. In second place is Toyota with a score of 561,134 vehicles. Resales of cars of this brand showed the largest growth dynamics among the market leaders – 84% by 2020. Kia is in third place with a result of 350,191 vehicles (+20%). Nissan (306,923 cars, +36%) and Hyundai (302,014 cars, +20%) follow.
The ten most popular brands in the secondary market in Russia also include Volkswagen, Renault, Chevrolet, Ford and Mitsubishi. All of them showed growth in sales, the dynamics is calculated in double digits.
In the top sales by models, AvtoVAZ products lost their leadership last year. It was pushed aside by Ford Focus, new cars of this model have not been sold in Russia since 2019. Then the American company decided to minimize its presence in the Russian market, and new Ford cars are sold only in the commercial segment. The Focus remains the most popular used passenger car among Russians in 2021. 144,823 of these cars were resold during the year, which is 11% more than in 2020. Hyundai Solaris follows with a small margin – 139,672 cars (+21%) . In third place is the now discontinued Lada 2114 Samara, whose resales grew by 12% to 138,862 cars. This is followed by Kia Rio – 137,743 cars, an increase of 22%, and the discontinued Lada 2107 with a result of 125,340 (+21%).
Three more Lada models – Priora, Granta and Niva, as well as Toyota Corolla and Renault Logan – made it to the top ten leaders of the secondary market.
The largest number of transactions for the resale of passenger cars was made in Moscow and the Moscow region, follows from the data of Avtostat info. Together, these two regions accounted for almost 12% of all secondary sales. More than 5% of the market is concentrated in the Krasnodar region, 3.4% – in St. Petersburg, 3% – in the Rostov region.
The statistics of “AUTOSTAT Info” distinguishes pickups and light commercial vehicles (LCV) into separate categories. According to the agency, sales of used pickup trucks in Russia over the past year increased by 19% to 45,051 units. Toyota is the market leader with sales of 10,465 vehicles. The used LCV segment grew by 30% last year to 448,246 vehicles. The absolute leader of the segment is the GAZ group. 42% of the market, or 190,077 units, falls on the resale of equipment of this brand.
Thus, the combined sales of used cars, pickups and LCVs in 2021 amounted to 6.55 million units. This is almost 4 times more than the market for new passenger cars and LCVs in Russia, which was estimated by the Association of European Businesses at the end of the year at 1.67 million vehicles.
Avtostat info expert Alexander Klimnov links the significant growth of the secondary market in Russia in 2021 with the shortage of new cars. Car factories simply could not produce the volumes needed by the market due to a shortage of components, and especially electronic components, he explains. According to Klimnov, with the projected shortage of chips in the first half of 2022, the used passenger car market will continue to grow at a significant pace. Given the shortage of new cars, prices for used cars will also grow significantly, the expert points out.
In 2021, prices in the secondary market increased by 1.5 times, Avtostat calculated. The average price of a used passenger car in January 2022 was RUB 1.05 million, surpassing the symbolic million mark for the first time. The price increase in December 2021 was 8%, according to the agency’s calculations.
There is no need to wait for a reversal in the trends of 2021 until the end of the coming year, Klimnov says. “The car sharing companies, taxi fleets and rental services, whose fleet is changing very intensively, set certain dynamics for the market in Central Russia. This spills fresh cars into the secondary market, although often with significantly worn out chassis and power plant, as well as a body damaged in an accident of varying severity, ”he said in an interview with Vedomosti.
There will be no such increase in the secondary market in 2022, Sergey Burgazliev, an independent consultant on the automotive industry, told Vedomosti. He expects sales growth in this segment at the level of 6-10%. Prices will rise by another 10-12%, the expert believes, noting that the real picture of what is happening will depend on whether the shortage of microchips ends in the second half of the year.