Prices of used cars are still high – autoDNA data for re-registrations in Q1 of 2023

The first quarter of 2023 proved to be extremely weak in the used car market. The prices of used cars are high, so the interest is weakening. Import and re-registrations of used domestic cars have been dropping.

 

According to AAA AUTO data, in February and March of this year the median price of the car was PLN 31,500 and PLN 30,900, respectively. Although there is a slight drop by PLN 600 in March compared to February, the persistently high prices of used cars effectively deter potential customers.

The first quarter of this year was not particularly favorable for both buyers and sellers of used cars. First of all, there were much fewer “freshly” imported cars on the market than in early 2022 or 2021. Since the beginning of 2023, a total of “just” over 187,000 passenger cars and trucks with a permissible total weight of up to 3.5 tons have been registered in Poland for the first time. In the same period of 2022, there were nearly 196,000 of them, and from January to March 2021, nearly 223,000. 

 

 

The two-year decline, in addition to high prices, is also due to the ongoing crisis in the availability of components, including semiconductors, for the production of cars, which in turn translates into lesser availability of new cars. As a result, the exchange of used vehicles for new ones in Western Europe, which has been driving imports to Poland for many months, has a much slower pace.

 

Prices of used cars and low supply

This is also affected by rising financing costs as a result of interest rate hikes in the eurozone, galloping inflation, expensive fuels and weak consumer sentiment. Slower fleet exchange in the EU countries means a low supply of used cars imported into Poland.

In addition, in Poland, drivers are also negatively affected by the increase in the cost of living, fuel, service and insurance. This also reduces the tendency to exchange or buy cars on the domestic market. Over the last two years, the number of re-registrations of cars of domestic origin has been systematically decreasing, as well as re-registrations of imported cars, excluding the collapse in February-March 2022, after which there is no trace (see infographic).

 

Only 2 years ago, approx. 100,000 vehicles of this type were re-registered monthly, and now, since the beginning of the year, this number has fallen to 86,000-87,000 units. A downward trend can also be seen in the case of re-registration of used cars of domestic origin – from 69,000-76,000 per month, recorded just 2 years ago, this market segment has now dropped to 62,000.

 

Used cars are becoming more expensive

Let us highlight that the prices of used cars have increased significantly in recent months, which also has an impact in terms of reducing the number of buyers. This type of cars is most often bought by consumers, not by companies which replace their fleets with new ones every 3-4 years. The private consumer can postpone the replacement of the car for much longer than companies. Individual drivers have been keeping their cars longer, and this is another factor strongly limiting the size of the used car market.

What’s next? The market this year has faced a difficult situation, and has little chance of rebounding from the bottom. The situation could be radically changed only by dropping prices and limiting inflation, improving the availability of used cars and improving consumer sentiment.