Electric cars are getting more expensive, diesel is getting cheaper: how prices for used cars have changed
Experts from the Institute for Automotive Market Research, based on data from the aggregator Automoto.ua, analyzed price dynamics in the secondary passenger car market over the past year (from November 2024 to November 2025).
The numbers destroy the myth that “everything is only getting more expensive.” The market has split: while technological and economical cars are rising in price, traditional “fuel” segments are becoming more affordable (read: older).
Hereʼs what the situation looks like by fuel type.
Diesel and LPG: a downward trend
The most noticeable trend of the year is the decline in the price of cars in classic fuel categories.
- Diesel: A year ago (November 2024), the median price of a diesel passenger car was $7,900. Over the past 12 months, it has steadily but steadily declined to $7,000 (-11%). This indicates less a decline in demand than a market-filling of older and more affordable cars from Europe, which are “pulling” the average price down.
- LPG (Gas/Gasoline): Here the drop is even more noticeable. From $3,700, the price dropped to the psychological level of $3,000 (-19%). The segment of cars with LPG is finally turning into an “entrance ticket” to the world of motorists. Today, a car with gas is the most budget way to get around, and the prices for the cars themselves confirm this.
Gasoline: an island of stability
Gasoline cars have shown remarkable resilience. They started the year at $6,700, dipped to $6,000 in February, but by November 2025 the price had almost returned to where it started at $6,650. This is the “golden mean” of the market: gasoline cars remain a clear and predictable choice for most, without showing any sharp jumps.
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Hybrids: Split Personality
The most interesting, but also most misleading, picture is in the hybrid segment. Starting at $16,500, the price soared to $20,000 by September, and the year ended at $19,100.
It would seem that there is a crazy growth (+15%)? Not really. The reason for such volatility is the meager market share (about 2%). When there are few offers, any change in the structure of ads dramatically changes the picture. It is worth bringing in a batch of fresh hybrid crossovers (2020+) — and the median flies up. It is worth selling them — and old Priuses remain on the market, lowering the price down. So this graph shows not so much the increase in the price of specific models, but the instability of the offer itself.
Electric cars: the "holiday" is approaching...
The battery electric vehicle (BEV) segment is showing paradoxical dynamics at first glance. Usually, with market saturation and increasing competition, prices should go down. But here we see the opposite trend: after a spring decline to $15,800, prices slowly but surely went up, reaching $17,000 by November.
The main driver of this growth is the calendar. The approach of 2026, which is supposed to return the VAT on electric vehicles, is forcing the market to play it safe. Sellers understand that the era of cheap imports is coming to an end, so the cost of the "electric cars" available in Ukraine is starting to catch up with future realities even before they have arrived.
Expert opinion
Auto market expert Ostap Novitsky comments:
"We see a clear polarization of the market, where each segment lives by its own rules. Classic cars (gasoline) remain an "island of stability" — here prices have hardly changed over the year. But diesel and LPG are predicted to become cheaper, becoming an entry ticket for buyers with a limited budget.
The most interesting metamorphosis is taking place in electrified segments. The situation with hybrids resembles "statistical noise": due to the small number of offers on the market, any batch of fresh cars sharply raises the average price, creating the illusion of crazy demand.
But in the electric car segment, "psychological economics" is now at work. Contrary to the logic of market saturation, prices have crept up. BEV owners are acting ahead of the curve: they understand that with the VAT refund, buying a similar car in 2026 will be much more expensive. Therefore, no one wants to make it cheaper today, building the future tax increase into the price tags now."
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