Used Car Imports to Hungary Remain at a Low

The number of foreign used cars registered this past November did not move upwards either, the JóAutók.hu [‘GoodCars’] dealer portal said in its analysis on Monday, based on fresh data from Datahouse. The number of imported used cars was 9,663, which is 19% lower than the 11,963 registered a year earlier.

The monthly sales of imported used cars have been stagnating at around 9,700 units for four months, the dealer noted in a summary analysis. This summer was an important turning point for used car imports. “The market was very active in the first half of the year, but since the summer, demand has declined noticeably: the development of living and overhead costs has caused serious uncertainty and some potential buyers are postponing car purchases for the time being," the CEO of JóAutók.hu, Bertalan Halász explains.

While in the first five months of the year, an average of 11,700 used cars were registered in Hungary, since August the monthly volume has been steadily hovering around 9,700. No significant shift is expected in the coming months, with JóAutók.hu predicting a recovery of the market in spring 2023.

Three brands account for 31% of used cars imported by the end of November 2022: Volkswagen (12%), Opel (10%) and Ford (9%). These are followed by Toyota, Audi, BMW, Hyundai and Mercedes, with shares of 5-6% each.

This year's total volume of used car imports up to the end of November was 118,583, down 2.8% on the 121,976 registered in the same period last year. In the same period, new car sales totalled 103,525, down 8.5% from 113,193 a year earlier.