In the history of the car market of modern Ukraine, there have not been so many radical changes as the sphere of import of used cars from abroad experienced in the first half of 2022. In addition to the start of a full-scale war, the market was affected by the temporary shutdown of seaports, the introduction and cancellation of "zero" customs clearance, and a significant change in the exchange rate. Despite this, a record was set on the market : more cars with mileage have not been brought since 1997. Experts of the Institute of Car Market Research analyzed the statistics registrations of passenger cars and identified the top 20 most popular models that were "imported" from abroad from January to June.
In total, from January to June 2022, Ukrainians registered 278,600 units. used cars brought from abroad. At the same time, most of these cars (202.8 thousand, 72.8% ) — during the period of the so-called "zero" customs clearance, i.e. April-June.
It is interesting that of the total number of imported used cars registered for the first time in Ukraine during April-June 2022, 30.3 thousand cars were resold during the same period on the domestic market. That is, only 4.8% of the total number of imported cars were brought for resale, and the remaining 95.2% — for personal use.
The most popular brands among imported cars with mileage
Volkswagen turned out to be the leader among the brands of used cars imported by Ukrainians during the first half of 2022, as well as among domestic resales. The share of cars of this brand increased from 17.6% to 19.3%, if compared with the statistics of 2021. Second place was taken by Renault, the share of which almost did not change at 8.7%, and Opel rose from fifth to third place ( 7.3% share compared to 6.5% in 2021).
The fourth place was occupied by cars of the Ford brand (7% share), which fell from the third place according to the results of 2021, and Skoda moved to the fifth place ( 6.5% share). It is also noticeable that Huyndai, which in 2021 was in sixth place with a share of 5.1%, dropped significantly in the rating, and according to the results of the first half of 2022, the number of these cars in imports decreased to 3.4%, which secured only 13th place in the top. This was the result of problems with the delivery of cars from the ports of the USA and South Korea, from where a significant part of cars of this brand were brought.
Due to the fact that under "zero" customs clearance during April-June, most cars were brought from the countries of the European Union, the share of German brands in the list of the most popular brands increased: Audi (from 4.7% to 6.3% ), BMW (from 4.1 % to 5.4% ), Mercedes-Benz (from 3.3% to 4.8% ). The only "Japanese" that managed to stay in the TOP-10 is Nissan, whose share decreased from 4.6% to 3.8%.
The most popular models of used cars from abroad
Most often, during the first 6 months of 2022, Ukrainians brought Volkswagen Passats from abroad with a mileage of 16,200 units. In second place in terms of popularity is another Volkswagen — Golf ( 14,800 units ). The third place was taken by another Volkswagen AG model — Skoda Octavia.
The popular Renault Megane ( 8.5 thousand units ) was placed on the fourth step, and its "brother" Renault Scenic ( 7.5 thousand units ) was on the fifth place. Ford Focus took sixth place ( 6.8 thousand units ), Volkswagen Touran rose to seventh place ( 6.6 thousand units ), and two Opel Zafiras ( 6.4 thousand units) took eighth and ninth place. ) and Astra ( 6.2 thousand units ). Audi A4 closes the top ten with 6.2 thousand registered cars.
If compared with the 2021 rating, the most noticeable changes occurred in the second ten of the rating. In particular, typically "American" cars dropped out of the top 20: Nissan Rogue, Ford Fusion, Volkswagen Jetta and Ford Escape. These cars were popular among cars imported from the USA. Due to problems with logistics, their number in the import structure reached a minimum in the first half of 2022.
Instead, the German Mercedes-Benz E-Classe, BMW X5 and Volkswagen Touareg made it to the top 20 based on the results of the half-year 2022. Despite the "premium" nature of these models, most of them were "aged" cars, because the average age of each model is more than 8 years. That is, we are not talking about mass importation of expensive elite cars by Ukrainians.
It is also interesting that 9 of the 20 most popular imported passenger cars with mileage are occupied by brands of the Volkswagen AG concern.
- Volkswagen Passat — 16,216 units.
- Volkswagen Golf — 14,801 units.
- Skoda Octavia — 10,913 units.
- Renault Megane — 8,463 units.
- Renault Scenic — 7,505 units.
- Ford Focus — 6,746 units.
- Volkswagen Touran — 6,625 units.
- Opel Zafira — 6,357 units.
- Opel Astra — 6,194 pcs.
- Audi A4 — 6,153 units.
- Audi A6 — 5,645 units.
- BMW 3 Series — 4,650 units.
- Skoda Fabia — 4,226 units.
- Toyota Avensis — 4,073 units.
- Mercedes-Benz E-Class — 3,539 units.
- BMW 5 Series — 3,532 units.
- Nissan Qashqai — 3,379 units.
- BMW X5 — 3,040 units.
- Volkswagen Tiguan — 2,459 units.
- Volkswagen Touareg — 2,431 units.
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