Volkswagen conquers Ukraine again: massive imports of used cars
In May 2024, 20,000 used cars were brought to Ukraine from abroad and put on Ukrainian license plates. This is 674 cars more than in April, according to the Institute for Automotive Market Research. This figure is 20.1% higher than in May 2023, and also slightly higher than a month earlier – by 3.6%.
THE MOST POPULAR BRANDS
As in the domestic resale segment, the ranking of freshly imported used passenger cars in May was traditionally topped by the Volkswagen brand, once again with a confident lead over its rivals in terms of number and market share. Cars with the VW badge were registered at 3.1 thousand, accounting for 15.5% of the total.
THE MOST POPULAR MODELS
Audi continues to hold the second place with 1.9 thousand first registrations and a 9.3% share. Nissan is in third place (7.7%, 1.5 thousand), followed by Renault with 1.3 thousand and a 6.6% share. Ford took fifth place (6%, 1.2 thousand units).
The Volkswagen Golf remained the leader among “freshly driven” used cars. In May, 983 of them were delivered. The electric version of the e-Golf, which we include in the total number as differing only in the type of powertrain, helps it to keep the lead, and the models are not divided in the ratings by this parameter.
Skoda Octavia is in second place (648 units), and Volkswagen Passat is in third place (576 units). Fourth on the list is the Voklswagen Tiguan, which was “driven” and submitted for the first registration in the amount of 562 cars, which allowed this crossover to rise one step higher this time. Thus, the top four most popular models are all manufactured by Volkswagen AG.
The Renault Megane rounds out the top five “freshly delivered” passenger cars with a total of 503 vehicles.
The Top 20 in May, as in the previous few months, includes three electric cars: Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model 3, and another Tesla – Model Y. In addition to these, the overall standings include electric Volkswagen e-Golfs, which joined our fleet in the amount of 217 units.
The import of electric cars is facilitated by a zero customs duty rate and the absence of a pension fund fee at the first registration. We can also add to this list the factor of saving on fuel, the prices of which are quite high.
It should be borne in mind that it takes a certain amount of time between customs clearance and the first registration, which is taken into account in this review, from several days to several months (if, for example, a car from the United States needs to be repaired). Therefore, when we analyze the first registrations, we see the results of imports with a certain delay, especially with regard to cars from the Americas, China, and Korea.
About electric trucks, which have recently received benefits in the form of VAT abolition. So far, these changes in import rules have not had much of an impact on the volume of their imports. In May, 67 of them arrived, slightly more than, for example, in March (47), February (19) and January (25) of this year.
