The second-hand sector, which has the largest volume of the Turkish automotive industry, contracted in 2021. The sector, which entered January 2022 slowly, is expected to recover after the second half of the year. Uğur Sakarya, Deputy General Manager of Doğan Trend Automotive Retail Operations and Suvmarket, operating under Doğan Holding, shared his evaluation of 2021 and his predictions for 2022. Uğur Sakarya said, “The contraction was at the level of 2021% in the first 6 months of 25, but the second-hand sales, which almost exploded due to the increasing demand with the summer period and the increase in the exchange rate in the last quarter, recovered the total of the year and increased it to over 6 million units again, as in the last two years. In the last quarter of 2021, it was observed that second-hand sales increased by 50% compared to the previous year. However, the increase in the dollar rate after December, and then a slight decline, put a brake on the sales. Used car trade came to a near standstill and 2021 resulted in a 7% contraction compared to the previous year. The rising prices with the variable exchange rate led the consumer to a wait-and-see policy in the first month of 2022. However, as of April, we expect second-hand vehicle sales to increase and to close slightly above last year's.
The automotive industry's stagnation process due to exchange rate fluctuations in the last months of 2021 also affected the second-hand market in the same direction. The second-hand vehicle industry, which started 2022 with a slowdown, as in the first months of the previous year, is hopeful for the second half of the year. The high prices of new cars, the persistence of the problem of availability due to the chip crisis, the guaranteed vehicle offerings and financial support of corporate second-hand companies lead consumers to buy second-hand vehicles. Doğan Trend Automotive Retail Operations and Suvmarket Deputy General Manager Uğur Sakarya, who shared the details of the situation in the second-hand vehicle market in 2021 and his predictions for the future, said, “The curfews in the first 2021 months of 5 brought the market to a standstill due to the effect of Covid. Although the momentum was upward in the second half of the year, the second hand sector, which stopped again with the exchange rate changes in the last 15 days, resulted in a 2021% contraction in 7 compared to the previous year.
“There was an unprecedented movement in prices, January was very weak”
Emphasizing that the second-hand market started stagnant after 2021, when the second-hand market contracted, Uğur Sakarya said, “When we also evaluate the used car prices, we see an unprecedented level of activity in the last 2022 months. In the last quarter of 3, second-hand car prices increased by 2021% in a month with the increasing demand and exchange rate increase. Afterwards, it was seen that it came back at a rate of 70-20% in parallel with the decrease in the foreign exchange rate. However, even the return of prices in January could not stimulate sales because uncertainty prevails in the market. While the buyers are waiting for the exchange rates to drop a little more, the sellers think that if the exchange rates rise, they will not be able to replace the vehicle they sell again. For this reason, January was a very weak month. Even until half of December, sales did not take place," he said.
“The consumer who cannot reach zero will turn to the second hand”
Adding to his words that the consumer has had difficulty in purchasing new vehicles due to the gradual increase in the prices of new cars in the recent period, Uğur Sakarya said, “Although the year 2022 has started slowly, just like the previous year, there will be an increase again as of the second quarter of the year. A major factor in this is that the consumer will have difficulty in accessing new vehicles due to rising prices. I predict that when the availability problems in new cars are added to these developments due to the ongoing chip crisis, the consumer will be directed to the second hand.”
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