A few years ago, most buyers, when choosing a used car, believed that cars with an automatic gearbox should be avoided. First of all, due to more expensive maintenance and higher fuel consumption. However, today this trend is changing, and there are more and more used cars with "automatic" on the market. Experts of the Institute of Car Market Research analyzed the statistical data of the Automoto.ua aggregator , which collects the sale announcements of ALL cars from 100 auto sites in Ukraine, and determined with which gearbox cars are sold more, and by how much the price differs depending on its type.
There are more cars with "mechanics".
At the beginning of the year, in January 2022, the majority of passenger cars sold on the Internet were equipped with a classic manual transmission — 65.5% of the total number of ads. Accordingly, 34.5% of cars were on the "automatic".
In February, the share of cars with "mechanics" was the highest: 66%. From March to July, it decreased, and in July 2022, the highest share of cars equipped with an automatic transmission was recorded in sales: 40.9%.
It is interesting that this period coincided with the so-called "zero" customs clearance. After the return of taxes on the import of used cars from abroad, the share of cars on "mechanics" began to gradually grow and as of November is 65.8%, which is the second indicator during 2022. That is, thanks to the absence of customs payments, more cars entered the Ukrainian car market with an "automatic".
Cars with "automatic" are younger
It is interesting to observe the dependence of the type of gearbox on the age of the cars. Thus, the average age of cars on sale with "automatic" is almost half that of cars with "mechanics" ( 11 years versus 19.6 years in November). This is not surprising, because car manufacturers produce fewer and fewer cars with a mechanical gearbox, and the older the car, the less confidence the buyer has in the operation of the automatic gearbox: maintenance of the "classic" gearbox will cost significantly less.
It is also clearly visible that the average age of both categories of cars decreased in May-July, during the period of "zero" customs clearance, and increased in July-November. At the same time, the average age of cars with an automatic transmission increased less significantly (from 10.7 in July to 11 in November) than in cars with a manual transmission (from 18.3 in July to 19.6 in November).
At the same time, with the decrease in the average age of cars on sale, the increase in the number of cars with an "automatic" can be clearly observed.
Cars with "mechanics" are cheaper
Since the beginning of the year, the average median price of an automatic car has decreased from $11,900 in January to $10,900 in November. The offer for sale of a car with a manual gearbox also changed in price: from $4,350 in January to $3,600 in November.
In general , cars with "automatic" are on average three times more expensive than cars with "mechanics". In addition, due to the general decrease in the price of cars on the market, during 2022, cars with an automatic transmission became more affordable : by $1,000, or by 8.4%.
If we compare the characteristics of specific models, for example, a Volkswagen Passat with automatic transmission costs $10,500 on average, and its average age is 10.7 years. The same model with a manual transmission is almost twice as old ( 19.8 years vs. 10.7 years) and twice as expensive ( $4,800 vs. $10,500 ). The situation is similar with other models: Skoda Octavia with automatic transmission costs $9,900 on average and has an average age of 9.6 years ; instead, the same model with "mechanics" will have an average age of 14.1 years and cost $6,400. The average Volkswagen Golf with an automatic is 10.5 years old, and its average price is $11,000. If the model is equipped with a mechanical gearbox, its average age will be almost twice as long: 19.5 years. The average price is $4,500.
If you compare models of the same year of production (in our case, 2008 ), it is noticeable that the share of cars with automatic transmission is much higher among cars of premium brands. Instead, most of the cheaper mass market models are manual transmission cars.
As for prices, in all cases, models with an "automatic" are more expensive. For example, Skoda Octavia is $800 or 12.7% more expensive; Volkswagen Passat — $500 or 7.4% more expensive; Opel Astra — by $500 or 9.3%.
The average price of the Renault Megane, which is equipped with an automatic robotic gearbox, does not differ, and the biggest price difference is in the BMW 5 Series ( +25% of the price for an "automatic") and the Ford Focus ( +20.5% of the price of a car with automatic transmission).
On average, passenger cars with "automatic" are 11.2% more expensive than similar models with "mechanics".
Conclusions
- The majority of cars on sale are cars with a manual transmission: 65.8% of the total number of ads. Cars with "automatic" are correspondingly less: 34.2%.
- After the cancellation of "zero" customs clearance, the number of cars with an automatic gearbox on sale decreased.
- The younger the car, the more likely it is to have an automatic transmission. As the average age of passenger cars decreases, the share of cars with automatic transmission among them increases.
- If you divide the model range by the type of gearbox, then both their average age and average price will be different: cars with an "automatic" will be younger and more expensive, while cars with mechanics will be older and cheaper.
- Popular models of the Ukrainian mass market with an automatic transmission cost 12% more than the same car with a manual transmission.
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