Sales of used cars drop by nearly 50 percent as a result of Covid pandemic
The coronavirus pandemic has affected not only sales of new cars, but also sales of second-hand vehicles. The turnover of the Czech Republic’s used car market slumped by 46 percent last year to CZK 61.4 billion, the Czech News Agency reported on Friday.
In total, second-hand car dealers and private sellers sold 255,999 vehicles, which is a drop by 47 percent on the previous year, according to data from the Czech start-up Carvago, part of the European Automotive Group (EAG).
At the same time, sales of used cars on the Internet have increased, helping to slow down the negative impact of the pandemic.
“Digitalisation in the automotive sector is unavoidable regardless of the coronavirus crisis. Over the past three decades, there have been virtually no innovations on the market,” Carvago co-founder and CEO Jakub Škulta told the Czech News Agency.
Mr Škulta said that while many of the used cars are being presented online, the sales still take place physically.
“That means that in most cases, customers cannot withdraw from the contract within a two-week period, as it is stipulated by law in the case of online sales,” he said.
Buyers of used cars were mostly interested in mid-priced categories. The average price of used cars increased by three percent year-on-year to CZK 264,251. The average age of used cars sold in 2020 was 10.5 years.
The best-selling model was Škoda with 33.9 percent, followed by Volkswagen (11.7 percent), Ford (6.8 percent), Hyundai and Peugeot.
Imports of used cars to the Czech Republic in 2020 dropped by 15 percent compared to the previous year to 150,731 vehicles. That is the lowest figure in the past six years, according to data from the Czech Association of Car Importers. The average age of used cars imported to the Czech Republic was 10.7 years.
Last year, Czechs imported 77 used Ferraris, 53 Maserati models, 32 Lamborghinis and 29 Rolls-Royces, but also 30 Trabants and 17 Tatras.
