New cars sales 20 percent down in Belarus
Instead, almost a brand new car can now be bought $5-6 thousand cheaper. The country expects an inflow of “loan cars”. The crisis has affected the demand for both the new and used cars in Belarus. Siarhei Mikhailau, the editor of Auto Business newspaper and car market expert, has told the European Radio for Belarus that the crisis has hit the car market heavily.
“Generally, the consequences of the so called crisis show itself equally in all the countries, including even Belarus. Naturally, with the credit money becoming more expensive and less available, the sales of new cars are dropping”.
According to the expert, the sales of new cars in Belarus have dropped 20 percent in the first two months of 2009. The similar situation can be observed in the used-car segment. But with the used cars, the sales have dropped due to other reasons, as sellers wait for higher costs, while buyers expect lower prices. Meanwhile, used car costs have remained at almost the same level.
In the view of Mr Mikhailau, the future of the Belarusian car market depends on the position of the government. He says: “What really happens depends on the strategy and tactics of our government: which measures it is going to take in order to stimulate the domestic demand; whether new restrictive duties are going to be introduced or, on the opposite, a wave of cheaper cars will be accepted”.
With the financial crisis hitting the car market, there has been a new tendency for Belarus. The so-called “loan cars” have begun emerging at the secondary market. These cars were bought for bank loans, but now owners are unable to pay off the loans and have to sell their autos.
Mikhailau: “Everyone is expecting an inflow of loan cars that will emerge at the secondary market, because owners are unable to pay their loans… So far, one cannot say about the significant number of those cars, different from Ukraine, where there are a lot of them. It means that Ukraine was affected several months earlier”.
Nevertheless, “credit cars” have been put on sales more and more often. For instance, Maxim – an entrepreneur in Minsk – told the European Radio for Belarus that he had bought a 2-month-old Volkswagen Passat for $21,000. When new, this vehicle cost $27,000. The former owner took a loan but realized that he would not make it to pay it off and decided to sell the car. The entrepreneur says that announcements sometimes appear on Belarusian web sites where sellers promise to give their almost brand new cars in exchange for loan refund.
Meanwhile, analysts maintain that the cars, seized by banks for unpaid credits, can soon appear on the Belarusian car market…
“Generally, the consequences of the so called crisis show itself equally in all the countries, including even Belarus. Naturally, with the credit money becoming more expensive and less available, the sales of new cars are dropping”.
According to the expert, the sales of new cars in Belarus have dropped 20 percent in the first two months of 2009. The similar situation can be observed in the used-car segment. But with the used cars, the sales have dropped due to other reasons, as sellers wait for higher costs, while buyers expect lower prices. Meanwhile, used car costs have remained at almost the same level.
In the view of Mr Mikhailau, the future of the Belarusian car market depends on the position of the government. He says: “What really happens depends on the strategy and tactics of our government: which measures it is going to take in order to stimulate the domestic demand; whether new restrictive duties are going to be introduced or, on the opposite, a wave of cheaper cars will be accepted”.
With the financial crisis hitting the car market, there has been a new tendency for Belarus. The so-called “loan cars” have begun emerging at the secondary market. These cars were bought for bank loans, but now owners are unable to pay off the loans and have to sell their autos.
Mikhailau: “Everyone is expecting an inflow of loan cars that will emerge at the secondary market, because owners are unable to pay their loans… So far, one cannot say about the significant number of those cars, different from Ukraine, where there are a lot of them. It means that Ukraine was affected several months earlier”.
Nevertheless, “credit cars” have been put on sales more and more often. For instance, Maxim – an entrepreneur in Minsk – told the European Radio for Belarus that he had bought a 2-month-old Volkswagen Passat for $21,000. When new, this vehicle cost $27,000. The former owner took a loan but realized that he would not make it to pay it off and decided to sell the car. The entrepreneur says that announcements sometimes appear on Belarusian web sites where sellers promise to give their almost brand new cars in exchange for loan refund.
Meanwhile, analysts maintain that the cars, seized by banks for unpaid credits, can soon appear on the Belarusian car market…
