- Статьи
- Society
- Not a means of transportation, but a luxury: Russians are getting rid of premium cars
Not a means of transportation, but a luxury: Russians are getting rid of premium cars
There was a 22% increase in the number of offers to sell used premium cars in January this year compared to the beginning of 2024, ad aggregators reported. Most of the cars that Russians are trying to sell are German and Japanese. Experts attribute the situation to the rising cost of maintenance, high prices for spare parts and their long waiting time, as well as problems with software. Therefore, previously popular European and Japanese premium brands are being displaced by Chinese ones. The Izvestia article describes which brands and models are most often gotten rid of and what they buy instead.
Premium class began to sell more often
Russians are actively selling premium-class cars of previously popular German and Japanese brands. This "Izvestia" reported aggregators of ads for the sale of used cars. In particular, according to "Auto.ru", the number of such proposals for the year increased by 22%.
The majority of ads (namely 60%) in this segment on the site belongs to the German three BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi. They are followed by two Japanese brands - Toyota and Lexus, they accounted for a share of about 20%. The remaining five are shared by Volvo, Porsche, Land Rover, Infiniti and Volkswagen.
The number of offers at car dealerships for the sale of premium used cars has fallen by almost 60% over the year. For example, this is the situation at the company "Rolf". Vadim Chernousov, the director of its department for cars with used cars, said that the first place in the number of offers now has a German crossover BMW X5, the second - the classic Japanese off-roader Toyota Land Cruiser. Also actively sell German Mercedes-Benz and Japanese Lexus.
According to "Avito Auto", among the brands that Russians are most active in selling are BMW (31.7%), Mercedes-Benz (21.5%), Lexus (7.9%), Audi (7.9%) and Zeekr (7%). BMW became the leader in terms of supply dynamics among these brands - by 9% compared to January last year. The average price for these cars is now 10.5 million rubles.
BMW X5 is the leader among the sold models: it accounts for 5.2% of the total number of ads. The second line is occupied by Voyah Free with 4.1%, and the third - Zeekr 001 with 4%.
However, the Avilon group does not record the growth of sales of premium cars with mileage, said the company's representative - Deputy General Director for the direction of cars with mileage Roman Titov.
How expensive cars are sold
According to the analytical agency Avtostat, sales of premium brands in October 2024 reached the maximum result (15,663 units) for seven months. The record of the year was set back in March - 19,095 units. The share of the premium segment in the second fall month accounted for 9.2% of all new passenger car sales in the country. And mostly "Chinese" are bought - their share is more than 70%. Exeed, Tank and LiXiang hold the leadership.
The desire of Russians to sell premium cars is influenced by the rise in prices for spare parts and difficulties with the maintenance of such cars, said auto expert Yulia Miloslavskaya.
- Lack of available service centers, problems with software - all this turns the maintenance of premium cars into a luxury, - she stressed. - As a result, owners prefer to hurry with the sale of their premium cars, fearing a drop in their value.
As Izvestia found out, parts for foreign cars in Russia went up in price by 20-50% on average in 2024, which is many times faster than the average inflation rate (9.5%). The worst situation was with European brands: Mercedes, BMW, Volvo, Skoda, Audi and Volkswagen.
For a short time Chinese cars have become a real alternative not only to cheap European cars, but also to premium cars from the EU, says Ilya Plisov, a member of the Board of the Union of Auto Service Centers.
- The psychological boundary has been passed, the Chinese car industry is no longer feared, and the purchase has moved from a risky investment to a clear course of action," he added. - The most expensive Chinese cars cost two or three times less than the European premium, and former Range Rover connoisseurs are moving to LiXiang and rejoicing at the backlighting and electronics. Only rare "old-timers" refuse new products and prefer familiar European manufacturers.
In the company "Rolf" believe that the usual European premium with mileage can be replaced by cars that are imported through parallel imports, as well as some luxury Chinese brands.
Experts advise Russians to take a closer look at cars whose production is localized in Russia. This will reduce maintenance costs and avoid problems with repairs and sales.
The Union of Car Service Centers assured that the market of service stations has managed to repair cars from China.
People who bought new premium brands three or four years ago are just used to changing their cars after a certain period of time, said Nikita Rodionov, technical director of Fit Service, an international franchise network of car service stations.
- They are used to and prefer to drive modern and fresh cars," he said. - It's like with a cell phone: most often it is changed every two or three years. A car for people is not only a means of transportation, especially a premium one. It is also a status, a hobby, and an opportunity to realize their dreams. But since there are no brands familiar to customers in the Russian market, and the mileage on existing cars is already decent, people want to replace them with more relevant models.
The expert added that most premium cars are more technically sophisticated models than the mass segment in terms of design, configuration and equipment.
- As their mileage increases, their repairs become more and more expensive. The market has problems with spare parts, with delivery times, of course, this is a solvable issue, but maintenance is becoming extremely expensive and difficult," he said. - And to change cars now for a similar premium, but more recent is quite difficult.
Nikita Rodionov confirmed: there is a tendency of wealthy customers to switch to Chinese brands. But there is also a share of those who are not ready to change their European cars. He suggested that in 2025, this trend of switching to the "Chinese" will become more widespread, because the mileage of the old batch of premium is becoming more and more significant.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
