Bringing a motor: Russians buy cars on marketplaces 726% more often

Car sales on marketplaces have been growing since October 2024, analysts of AdTech company First Data have calculated. Thus, from October to December, 726% (eight times) more cars were sold than in the same period last year.

Marketplaces also confirmed the statistics. Ozon users ordered six times more cars in the fourth quarter of last year compared to the same period of 2023, the press service of the marketplace told Izvestia. This is more than 1.2 thousand cars since the appearance of such a category. Several hundred cars have been purchased on Wildberries since the launch of the category, the press service noted.

The most popular models on Ozon were Chery Tiggo 4 Pro and Chery Tiggo 7 Pro Max, as well as domestic LADA Vesta, Granta and Niva. On Wildberries the highest demand is for models of Chery, Omoda, Jaecoo and LADA brands.

Residents of the Moscow, Sverdlovsk and Smolensk regions, Moscow and Tatarstan ordered cars on Wildberries most often. In total, residents of more than 30 regions took advantage of this opportunity. On Ozon, half of all orders come from Moscow, the Moscow region and St. Petersburg. Also cars online are often bought by residents of Rostov-on-Don, Krasnodar and the Krasnodar region.

- Residents of remote regions are also not left out: for example, one of the first Chery cars ordered went to Norilsk," they added.

Russian banks are also actively working on creating ecosystems for car enthusiasts. T-Bank has announced the launch of such an area in 2024. Among other things, through its application it is possible to apply for a loan and buy a vehicle with home delivery.

- For 2024, the demand for online car buying has increased. Thus, by the end of 2024, monthly sales in our service have increased tenfold compared to the beginning of the year, - Denis Musienko, head of "Auto" at T-Bank, told Izvestia. - We attribute this to the ease of use of the service, the update of the application, as well as special offers from T-Bank's ecosystem, which made it possible to purchase cars on more favorable terms. We do not notice any difference in the favorite brands between online and offline purchase; these are also Russian and Chinese manufacturers, which have been in the top 10 in sales among new cars for the last few years.

The online car buying market started to take serious shape in 2024, added VTB Auto CEO Sergey Medynsky.

- According to our research, by the end of 2024, almost 10% of respondents would prefer to buy a car online," he emphasized. - Cars for 2-3 million rubles are most often bought online, among the most popular are Chery Tiggo 4 PRO and Chery Tiggo 7 PRO MAX.

Why car sales on marketplaces are growing

For Russians, buying cars on marketplaces is a relatively new experience, as this option became available just over a year ago, experts noted. However, the growth in purchases suggests that a new trend is taking shape, believes Alexander Starostin, CEO and co-founder of AdTech platform First Data.

The growth of car sales on marketplaces at the end of 2024 can be explained both by the development of the marketplaces themselves and by changes in consumer habits, said independent PR consultant Denis Goldman.

High sales growth rates can be partly explained by the effect of a low base, i.e. low starting indicators, says Denis Miguel, founder of the FRESH automobile marketplace. Absolute figures in units, not percentages, do not make a strong impression yet, he said.

- Nevertheless, remote car sales have excellent growth prospects. Ten years ago it seemed that it was impossible to sell cars via computer or smartphone without a personal visit to the showroom. You have to look, feel, take a test drive. And dealers lived without noticing the development of e-commerce, thinking that it would be like that forever," he explained.

Even attempts of some automakers to turn car dealerships into points of delivery of pre-ordered cars were perceived in a flip, added Denis Miguel.

- Because this way dealers were deprived of part of their earnings. It is difficult to sell a bumper net, alarm system and other additional services for triple the price to a client who has already chosen a car and fixed the price. Asking for honesty and transparency in the transaction is an important aspect," he said.

In addition, online purchase allows, he said, to minimize communication.

- We see from our statistics: more and more people prefer chat rooms to phone calls. So it is easier for them to protect their personal space from too persistent sales masters," he said.

Residents of not the largest settlements, where there are not a large number of dealerships, are also on the plus side, as the car will be delivered to their homes immediately.

Delivery of the car to a place convenient for the buyer saves his time considerably, Evgeny Fatyanov, the head of work with CASCO partners in the company "Compare", pointed out.

- In addition, buyers receive a fixed price, which simplifies the decision-making process. All customs duties have already been paid, and the cars presented on the platform are actually available," he emphasized.

Will marketplaces replace car dealerships

The trend of buying cars through marketplaces will continue this year, experts believe.

- Undoubtedly, online car sales will grow. About 40% of motorists in various surveys report that they will either definitely buy their next car through a marketplace or consider such a possibility as an alternative, - said the expert of the direction "People's Front. Analytics" Pyotr Shkumatov.

This practice will not only become more habitual, but will also facilitate the introduction of additional services, such as trade-in or the possibility of registration of loans and installments directly through the platform, believes Evgeny Fatyanov.

Currently, the model of buying through marketplaces provides for full payment for the car by card, emphasized Oleg Kuznetsov, Deputy General Director for Digital Transformation of Avtodom and AutoSpecCenter Group of Companies.

- This narrows the list of potential buyers. For now, such sales are more like testing a hypothesis and a new channel. This is a story that will definitely develop, but it is very, very premature to say that marketplaces will completely replace sales in dealerships," he believes.

Selling through marketplaces now for car dealers is not cheaper than attracting customers through traditional advertising channels, and the transaction itself carries a lot of organizational and legal nuances, said Oleg Kuznetsov.

For decades, the car market has formed a buying culture in which personal inspection, test drive and consultation with a dealer remain important stages of the choice, added Alexander Korotkov, CEO of the Likvi.com project. The development of digital technologies cannot change this overnight.

- Marketplaces can establish themselves as a convenient tool for buying budget cars, but to win the premium segment they will have to either radically reduce prices or create dealer-level service," he said.

So far this has not happened, but the automobile market is changing flexibly depending on global economic factors, the expert summarized.