Earlier it became known that 63.6% of used cars in 2021 were purchased in the European Union. However, if we divide these statistics into specific countries, the picture of imports becomes clearer. The team of the Institute of Car Research analyzed the official statistics of the State Customs Statistics and brought out the TOP-10 most popular countries from which Ukrainians brought cars with mileage in 2021.
Where do Ukrainians bring the most used cars
During January-October 2021, used cars from the USA were mostly imported to Ukraine. In 10 months of this year, Ukrainians bought 135,000 cars with mileage, which were exported from America. In most cases, these are cars from insurance auctions, after an accident or other damage.
In second place — Poland. In 19% of cases, used cars were exported from there. A total of 94,000 cars have been brought in since the beginning of the year. It is worth noting that there are two categories of cars. The first is the former so-called "Europlates", ie cars with foreign registration, imported into Ukraine without customs clearance, the legalization period of which lasted from June to November. A significant number of them were registered in Poland, so they were included in these statistics. The second category is used cars from Europe, which were imported according to the official import procedure. Often in such cases, the cars were "freshly imported" to Poland for resale from other EU countries, without running on Polish roads, but formally the contract of sale was concluded in this country, as reflected in customs statistics.
In third place — cars purchased in Germany, the country with the most developed automotive industry and, accordingly, the largest automotive market in the EU. In 10 months of 2021, 12.4% of the total number of cars — 61 thousand — were brought from there. Cars from this country are perhaps most valued among fans of "unbeaten — not painted" European cars.
In fourth place — cars exported from Lithuania (11.4%, 56 thousand units). The fourth place in the ranking of this country can be attributed to the same "Eurobonds" that Ukrainians liked to register in this country. The sharp increase in the share of this country in the structure of imports during the grace period of "legalization" of foreign-registered cars is a clear confirmation of this. In other cases, cars in Lithuania are bought by Ukrainians, for whom it is difficult to do so in European countries. Lithuania is a kind of transit "hub", where cars are transported from all over Europe, prepared for sale and resold to the countries of Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
The fifth place was taken by Estonia (4.1%, 20 thousand units). Some of these cars are, again, former Eurobonds. The other part is cars purchased in more developed markets of the European Union and resold by Estonian companies to Ukrainians.
Used cars from South Korea took an honorable sixth place. Almost 12,000 of them were imported during January-October 2021 (2.4% of the total). These cars are purchased in most cases at local auctions. Often — after work in taxi services. However, the favorable price in combination with configurations, which are not available in the EU, allowed used cars from South Korea to get into the top 10. If you see an orange Hyundai Sonata with a gas engine on the road, it is a classic representative of the "Korean" segment of car imports.
The next three countries — the Czech Republic (2.3%), Slovakia (1.9%) and Hungary (1.7%) were also included in the statistics only due to companies reselling used cars from other countries of the European Union. In other cases, local car dealerships are not attractive to Ukrainians.
Closes the top 10 another transport "hub" — Georgia. From there, 8.3 thousand used cars (1.7%) were exported to Ukraine. The vast majority of them are re-exports. Simply put — imported from other countries cars that undergo a full cycle of pre-sale training, including repair and execution of all necessary documents. Cars from the USA and South Korea are popular among Ukrainians there. Another feature of car exports from Georgia is that all activity takes place at the local car dealership "Autopapa" in the city of Rustavi — the largest market not only in Georgia but also in the Caucasus region.
How the dynamics change
To better understand the car market in Ukraine, it is necessary to monitor the processes taking place on it, as well as to monitor trends. Therefore, the Institute of Car Market Research has further analyzed how Ukrainiansʼ preferences for buying used cars abroad have changed since the beginning of 2021.
Among the biggest changes that have taken place since the beginning of 2021, we can highlight the following.
- The share of cars exported from Poland has increased. According to the results of October 2021, this country in general came in 1st place in the ranking with a share of 25.8%. In January, this figure was 12.4%. The increase may be due in part to a period of preferential legalization of the so-called "Eurobills".
- The share of cars from the United States decreased. At the beginning of the year it was at the level of almost 40%, in October — 16%. This may be a consequence of the global crisis in the automotive industry, the shortage of new and used cars, as well as the rise in price and increase in delivery time.
- The share of cars from Lithuania increased from 6% at the beginning of the year to almost 14% in October. The reason — all the same "Eurobonds".
- There is a noticeable increase in car exports from the Czech Republic — from 1.5% in January to 3.3% in October. And also — Slovakia and Hungary (from 1.6% to 2.8% and from 1.6% to 2.4% respectively).
- The share of cars from South Korea decreased from 3.8% in January to 1.3% in October.
- The share of used cars exported from Germany fluctuated during the year in the range of 11-14%, but in October, as in January, stopped at 11%.
- The share of cars from Georgia fluctuated all 10 months in the range of 1.5-2% of the total.
Conclusions
During 2021, Ukrainians bought the most cars in the European Union. However, if we divide these statistics by specific countries, in the first place were the United States. At the same time, the share of this country in the structure of imports has decreased significantly since the beginning of the year. Instead, the share of cars from Poland, which ranks second in the ranking of the most popular countries for buying a used car, has increased.
Interestingly, the ranking includes only one of the four countries with the largest car markets in the European Union — Germany. The other three — Italy, France and Spain — are not in the top 10 at all. However, this does not mean that Ukrainians do not buy used cars there at all. They just do it with the help of intermediary countries, which in the ranking can be called all but the United States, Germany and South Korea.
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