Used car market shrinks 15 percent in January-April

ISTANBUL

Second-hand vehicles sales declined by 15 percent in the first four months of 2024 compared to the same period of last year.

The used car market shrank in the January- April period as consumers continued to experience problems with accessing loans. Another reason for the steep decline in sales was that companies offered attractive deals in order to deplete their stocks of brand-new vehicles, which drew potential car buyers away from second-hand vehicles.

Some 2.2 million used cars changed hands in the first four months of 2024, down from 2.6 million a year ago.

Companies in the industry had expected the market conditions, which started to deteriorate in the final quarter of 2023, to improve, but those expectations have not been fulfilled. On the contrary, sales continued to plunge.

In April, 515,000 vehicles changed hands in the used car market in April, marking a steep 28 percent declined from a year ago.

Demand for second-hand cars remains weaker this year compared with previous years, said Kenan Belirgen, the general manager at Otomobilen.

Consumers are either buying affordable brand-new cars or trading their vehicles for low mileage used cars, according to Belirgen.

Belirgen expects the market outlook to improve in the second half of the year if interest rates on car loans come down and consumers have easier access to loans.

“It is difficult to predict where prices of second-hand cars would be, but I predict that prices may increase gradually by the end of the year in line with the inflation and exchange rates,” Belirgen said.