In total, 80,009 used car purchase and sale agreements were concluded in January 2026.
- MM dynamics (month-to-month): symbolic +0.4%. The market actually ignored the holiday season and the New Year lull, maintaining the December pace.
- YY dynamics (year-on-year): +62.3%. However, there is no room for euphoria here — this is a «paper» increase. In January 2025, there was a large-scale technical failure of the electronic services of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which caused registrations to stall for weeks. Now we are simply seeing a real picture of a healthy market without systemic obstacles.
Market leaders: brand ranking
Volkswagen continues its dominance, approaching the mark of 10 thousand transactions per month. Interestingly, the second and third places were taken by BMW and Audi. This indicates that the domestic market of premium «Germans» in Ukraine is surprisingly lively and active. However, the cars of these premium brands have an average age of 16.5 and 16.1 years, respectively. So it is not about a mass fascination with «elite cars», but rather the fulfillment of old dreams, when these cars are under two decades old and cost less than a new «Logan».
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Next on the list are Renault, Skoda, and Toyota, which hold consistently high positions, while VAZ/Lada is gradually moving down, although it still holds a place in the Top 10 thanks to its ultra-cheap prices and citizensʼ need for mobility.
Model rating
No surprises here — Volkswagen Passat and Skoda Octavia lead the rating. This is the «gold standard» of the Ukrainian. But look at the third place — Daewoo Lanos has not gone anywhere. It remains the main entrance ticket to the world of car owners. Also, BMW «threes» and «fives» show high activity, which confirms: driverʼs character and used status — the perfect combo for our second-hand car, a famous logo on the hood for a low price. At least, on the day of purchase.
Premium segment
Against the background of the overall figures, Porsche stands out with a result of 303 resales within the country. For our market, this is almost a «popular» premium. For true gourmets, there was also something to see in January:
- Rolls-Royce — 4 units changed owners.
- Ferrari and Aston Martin — 2 deals each.
- Lamborghini — 1 re-registration.
- Bentley (11) and Maserati (15) are steady movement in the top league.
Expert opinion
Stanislav Buchatsky, Head of the Institute for Car Market Research:
" The domestic market in January 2026 became the main foundation of the entire automotive industry. While import flows adapt to the new VAT rules, domestic turnover provides stability. The figure of 80 thousand transactions indicates that a car in Ukraine has finally moved from the luxury category to the category of a necessity. The market has become more mature, more predictable and almost independent of seasonal fluctuations or minor economic shocks.«
Memories from the garage
Auto expert Ostap Novytskyʼs column
The oldest hero of January was a green 1955 GAZ-69A, which found a new owner from Novovolynsk. This is the same car that was popularly called «Kozlyk» or «Gazik» — depending on how badly it had just shaken the driver.
In 1955, when the world was already getting acquainted with the first comfortable Toyota Land Cruiser and Jeep CJ-5, Soviet designers had another task: to militarize everything that moves. There were no roads, and there was no desire to build them either. Therefore, they created a car that did not need a road as such. The GAZ-69A is a vehicle born not for traveling, but for moving around the terrain, where the word «highway» sounded like a joke.
The official name «Worker» did not catch on. People quickly understood: it was not the car that was working here, but the passengerʼs spine, who gained new experience at every pit. The nickname «Goat» did not come from love — from the characteristic bouncing on a short base and stiff springs, plus a narrow «muzzle», which added associations with the aforementioned artiodactyl. But in an era where asphalt was exotic, and forest roads were the norm, he honestly did what he was created for: he went where others did not risk going. Just so as not to run into a pine tree with his metal bumper.
The equipment was painfully simple. The engine was a 2.1 gasoline engine, the power was such that overtaking a bicycle turned into a serious strategic operation. Fortunately, traffic was almost nonexistent then — except in the largest cities, but this was definitely not the element of the «Kozlyk». Its job was to transport military commanders, heads of collective farms, foresters, and sometimes hunters or geologists. The passengers changed, but the purpose remained: to get there at any cost, even if you had to lose a few seals along the way.
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There was no antifreeze in 1955, so in the winter, drivers drained the water every evening and filled it with boiling water in the morning. This was a morning survival ritual. You canʼt fight the radio — «I choose where there are fewer commercials on the morning show» — the maximum that could be chosen was the temperature of boiling water.
Geography is also telling. The documentation was transferred to Romania, where the car was produced until 1975, and China, where its descendants survived until 2005. Now they are flooding us with electric BYD, Chery, Geely, and relatively recently they were «riveting» this and that.
The appearance of the GAZ-69A in the registers of 2026 is either a collectorʼs whim, or the desire to have a cheap SUV for trips to the forest, but not a «Niva». In the world of air conditioning, airbags and soft suspension, buying a «Kozlyk» is a conscious choice in favor of a canvas awning, the smell of gasoline and the eternal hunt for spare parts.
Itʼs easy to mock him. But the fact remains: he has proven to be more resilient than the system that created him.
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