This year's used car sales in Hungary may break last year's record

The volume of half a million means that, on average, almost every eighth domestic car changed hands between January and July - Bertalan Halász, CEO of JóAutók.hu, pointed out in the announcement. He added that intensive sales of around 70,000 per month are expected in the coming months as well, as the new car market is unable to meet demand at previous levels due to supply problems and used imports due to the high euro exchange rate. Another question is what kind of change the possible removal of the fuel price subsidy and the associated increase in operating costs will mean in the last quarter of the year, he said.

According to the announcement, the significant price increase on the used car market has also increased the number of speculative sales. In particular, the price of cars that are a few years old has risen by as much as 15-30 percent.

However, according to Bertalan Halász, the uncertainty in market forecasts is much greater than before. Due to the deterioration of the economic environment and the expected additional expenses of households, the drop in demand is already felt. There is a good chance that this will reduce price pressure, and the market may reach a new equilibrium at a lower level in the coming months. If the used car market sets a new record, it will be solely due to the outstanding momentum of the first half of the year, the expert said.

The two most common brands on the Hungarian used car market were Opel and Volkswagen, 57,600 (11.6 percent) of the former and 49,800 (10.0 percent) of the latter changed hands during the period under review. Next on the popularity list is Suzuki with 8.5 percent of sales, followed by Ford with 8 percent and BMW with 6.5 percent.

(Source: autokalauz.co.hu; MTI | Image: pixabay.com)