According to data from industry association Ukravtoprom analyzed by socialbites.ca, sales of new passenger cars in Ukraine increased by 61% in 2023 compared to 2022. Ukrainians bought 61 thousand new passenger cars in 12 months.
The market leader in the country was Toyota automobiles with sales of 10.2 thousand units. Its sales increased by 47% compared to 2022. French Renault took second place with 5.8 thousand cars (an increase of 46% compared to the previous year). In third place is the German Volkswagen: 5.6 thousand cars of this brand were sold in Ukraine during the year; This figure is almost 2.5 times higher than the previous year.
Skoda, BMW, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, Suzuki, Mazda and Nissan were also among the top ten best sellers.
At the same time, according to Ukravtoprom, the most popular car on the Ukrainian market was Renault Duster.
Rich Ukrainians are buying foreign cars again
Compared with mass brands in Europe and Korea, sales of premium car brands in Ukraine in 2023 will recover much more intensively.
Sales of BMW cars increased by 139% compared to 2022 (up to 4.1 thousand cars), Porsche figures doubled (up to 690 units), Lexus – by 2.5 times (up to 1.9 thousand cars).
The Audi brand gained 77% (1.4 thousand car sales) and Mercedes-Benz gained 52% (2.5 thousand car sales).
What kind of place does the Ukrainian market occupy in Europe?
According to Ukrainian information and analytics group Auto-Consulting, at the end of 2023, Ukraine rose three points in the ranking of European countries in terms of new car sales, taking 23rd place between Finland and Croatia. Among European countries, the leading positions are occupied by Germany (2.8 million cars per year), Great Britain (1.9 million cars) and France (1.8 million cars).
Auto-Consulting reminded that Ukraine is at the forefront of European automobile markets, where it ranked seventh in 2008.
What new products are on the Ukrainian market?
In 2023, the Ukrainian market is filled with a significant number of new products from the world’s leading automakers. Especially in the autumn, sales of the hybrid Lexus RX 450h, the electric BMW i5 sedan, the new generation Mitsubishi Outlander crossover, the Peugeot 2008 compact crossovers and the Honda ZR-V, built on the same platform as the Civic, took place. The sedan started there.
Also, a new generation of Volkswagen Touareg and Mazda CX-90 crossover, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Wrangler SUVs and Compass crossover appeared on the Ukrainian market.
Sales of the hybrid version of the Hyundai Cona crossover and the updated Mazda CX-5 are scheduled to start in 2024; updated Sonata and Elantra sedans should appear in Hyundai showrooms in the spring. Chinese automobile companies are also actively exploring the local market.
Thus, in January 2024, the Chinese brand Changan planned to enter the Ukrainian market. Will deliver the latest Hunter pickup truck to local customers (Introduced in China in 2022 under the name Lantuozhe), Auto Advisory reported. The Chinese Foton Tunland pickup truck with a 163 hp 2.0 engine, an 8-speed ZF automatic transmission and an all-wheel drive system is currently offered to Ukrainian buyers.
Four new models, including the new generation Panamera, are expected to be available at Porsche dealerships. Alongside the Mini Cooper and Countryman, BMW will also present the new BMW 4 Series coupe. The new generation Skoda Kodiaq and Superb are expected to appear on the Ukrainian market in the fall.
Why are sales increasing?
The recovery of the Ukrainian car market in 2023 is explained by the return to their homes of some citizens who left the country in the spring of 2022 after the start of Russia’s special military operation, but experts say that the current sales figures are far from normal. .
“Given the population of the country, 60 thousand cars throughout Ukraine is a small amount. The maximum volume of the Ukrainian automobile market reached 700 thousand vehicles, this was before 2014,” Oleg Moseev, the founder of the Automarketer project, told socialbites.ca.
The expert explained the increase in new car sales in 2023 with the return of some people who had previously left the country at the end of 2022 and the optimism observed in Ukrainian society in 2023.
“There are not many representatives of automakers in Ukraine, but I can assume that importers selling Mercedes-Benz and BMW are feeling good. Mercedes-Benz cars are brought with the latest, newest, coolest vehicles and they do not stop, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine Maxim Kadakov told socialbites.ca.
He added that in periods like now, sales of expensive and ultra-expensive cars increase, and that there are many structures and people in Ukraine who manage to make money.
“For ordinary people, on the one hand, everything is very sad in terms of income, on the other hand, the import of second-hand cars from abroad continues in large quantities. And they only meet the needs of ordinary people,” Kadakov concluded.