Imports of used cars in August exceeded sales of new vehicles 

Imports of used passenger cars to the Czech Republic in the first eight months of 2021 rose by a fifth year-on-year to 118,593 vehicles, according to the newly released data by the Association of Car Importers. In August alone, Czechs imported 18,205 used cars, for the first time exceeding the number of new cars registered, which stood at 16,449.

The average age of imported cars currently stands at 10.5 years, with the share of vehicles older than 10 years being 51 percent and those older than 15 years being 21 percent.

“June, July and August also saw the highest number of used passenger cars imported since 2008,” says Josef Pokorný, secretary of the importers' union. At the same time, imports were almost the same as in 2019, before the Coronavirus crisis.

According Karolína Topolová, director of the largest domestic group of second car dealerships, this year's imports represent a stagnation in terms of the last five years.

"June and August, on the other hand, were the strongest months for imports in the last decade. This may be a warning signal against the start of a new influx of cars, which mostly due to their age and poor technical condition have been deteriorating the condition of the domestic car fleet for a long time," she told the Czech News Agency.

Topolová said that cars damaged by the recent disastrous floods in Germany and other parts of Western Europe could soon start to be imported to the Czech Republic.

Škoda continues to be the most popular imported brand with 26,143 cars. However, in August it was pushed into the second place by Volkswagen. The latter was second in the eight-month period with 24,056 cars. Ford came third with 10,146 used cars imported, followed by the premium brands BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi.

According to the vehicle-security firm Cebia, which monitors the origin of cars on Czech roads, the average prices of used cars increased by around 16 percent this year to CZK 245,000.

The price hike was mainly caused by the lack of new cars on the market caused by a shortage of chips. Because of this, people often have to wait over six months for a new car.

The rise in used car prices was also cause by the rising prices of new vehicles, says Jindřich Topol, AAA Auto's regional manager.

"Used cars are increasingly being bought by people who would have purchased a new car in a favourable economic situation."