The average price of used cars sold in the Czech market fell by three percent year-on-year in the first half of this year to 287,000 CZK. According to Cebia, a company specializing in verifying used cars, prices declined quarter-on-quarter before mid-year. The price drop is the increased age of the cars sold, which has risen by an average of two and a half months to 9.3 years. Cars of domestic origin have seen their average age increase by three-quarters of a year to 7.9 years.
Long-term promotional prices on selected new vehicles also contributed to the moderate price reduction, subsequently reflected in reduced prices of nearly new used cars up to two years old. Online marketplace Sauto.cz also noted a recent decrease in prices. “Quarter-on-quarter, prices fell by 2.6 per cent from 389,000 CZK to 379,000 CZK in the second quarter,” said product analyst Pavel Chmelík. Year-on-year, cars on Sauto.cz were still getting more expensive, but the trend is reversing.
However, Cebia also notes a smaller supply of used vehicles on the market this year, down 2.9 per cent year-on-year. There was a significant decrease in imported cars, falling by 12 per cent compared to last year. This year, 71,568 used passenger cars were imported into the Czech Republic, 9,801 fewer than in the same period last year. The share of cars of Czech origin increased by seven percentage points to 49 per cent.
The average mileage of used passenger cars sold this year was 144,000 kilometres, three thousand kilometres less year-on-year. “Considering the average age of sold cars is not decreasing, it can be inferred that odometer tampering is occurring more frequently or the odometers are being rolled back by a larger number of kilometres,” commented Cebia spokeswoman Barbora Minksová.
The share of diesel-engine cars sold was 48.5 per cent, while gasoline cars accounted for almost 47 per cent. The best-selling models were Škoda Octavia with a ten per cent share, Škoda Fabia with almost six per cent, and Škoda Superb with a 3.8 per cent market share. The top ten models also included cars from Volkswagen, Hyundai, Ford, and BMW. Electric vehicles made up 1.33 per cent of the market, up from less than one per cent in the same period last year.
Many vehicles still lack a valid technical inspection, although their share has decreased from 22.2 per cent to 19.7 per cent. The lower number of imported cars from abroad might be a contributing factor. “For customers, this means they bear the financial burden of subsequent technical inspections and emissions checks, but more importantly, they risk that the vehicle may not pass these checks, and they will have to make it roadworthy at their own expense,” warned Minksová.