Secondary bifurcation: what do observations of the used car market demonstrate?
According to the results of five months, the Russian used car market demonstrates multidirectional dynamics depending on the segment. Sales of used passenger cars show a slight increase, with the share of used "Chinese" increasing following sales of new cars. The situation is exactly the opposite in the segment of used trucks: more than 60 thousand used trucks have not been able to find a buyer, and their number is only growing. Moreover, it is already easier to scrap a certain part of these machines than to sell them, experts say. Izvestia dealt with the peculiarities and trends of the secondary car market in Russia.
Cars are in the black
From January to May, 2.39 million used passenger cars were sold in Russia. This was announced by Sergey Udalov, Executive Director of the Autostat analytical agency, at the ASP-2026 Forum conference. He noted that this figure is 5.5% higher than the result for the first five months of last year. At the same time, every new car sold accounted for 4.9 with mileage.
The expert said that over the specified period, the used car market in the mass segment grew by 4.5%, and in the premium segment by 12.5%. At the same time, most of the transactions on the secondary market are for models older than 10 years, they account for 73% of all used cars sold, said Sergey Udalov.
The trend at the beginning of this year is an increase in the share of used cars of Chinese brands. This is due to the sharp increase in their number in the sales structure in the new car market, which has been noted over the past few years. At the same time, the increase in sales of used "Chinese" primarily concerns models that were imported into Russia with new ones. In the first four months, Russians purchased 105.5 thousand used passenger cars from China. Their sales increased by 45% compared to the same period of the previous year, which is significantly higher than the growth of the aftermarket as a whole.
— There is an obvious increase in sales of used cars of Chinese brands. If in 2023 their share was 2%, now it is almost 6%,— said the executive director of Autostat.
At the same time, unlike the general situation in the used car market, where "age-related" models dominate, cars of Chinese brands are sold mostly "fresh". So, according to the agency, cars from China under the age of three account for 56% of transactions, of which a third are three—year—old cars, and 21% are "two-year-olds". The most popular models among Russians are Chery (21%), Geely (18%), Haval (15%), Changan and Lifan (6% each), noted Sergey Udalov.
According to Autostat analysts, about 6 million used cars will be sold in Russia in 2026. At the same time, even with a pessimistic scenario involving going into negative territory in the second half of the year, 5.95 million used cars are expected to be sold. The agency's optimistic forecast includes a value of 6.55 million used cars.
From China, but not China
Another trend in the secondary market is the increase in used car imports from China. So, by the end of May, out of 35.1 thousand cars imported into our country with mileage, 26.5% came from China, Autostat reported. However, most of the cars imported from China are not Chinese, but so-called global brands, said Sergey Udalov. Volkswagen is the leader among them, with its models accounting for 26.3% of "Chinese" imports last month. The top five also include Audi (12.2%), Toyota (11%), Honda (7.4%) and BMW (5.8%).
In China itself, serious changes are taking place in the mechanisms and tools for selling used cars, said Artem Samorodov, an auto expert and author of the Samorodov Pro channel, who has long held senior positions in the field of used cars in large dealer holdings in Russia. According to him, sales of used cars in China are going to social networks.
— This trend has been observed in China over the past few years and is becoming more and more noticeable. Potential buyers are less likely to turn to local classifieds with beautiful, glossy photos of cars and similar descriptions of cars to posts by real car owners on social networks," he said.
According to Artyom Samorodov, this trend is likely to reach the Russian used car market in the foreseeable future. The first signs of this are already noticeable, he noted.
Trucks "do not export"
Unlike the passenger car segment, the situation in the used truck sector is much more difficult. According to a number of industry experts, it is already close to collapse. Thus, according to Anton Melekhnin, Director of Risk at Interleasing Group of Companies, there are already about 60,000 trucks on the sites of leasing companies that have been seized by lessors from carriers for long delays or non-payment of payments. Moreover, the number of such "returnable" vehicles is only increasing: compared to the end of 2024, when used truck stocks were estimated at about 17.5 thousand units, their number has almost tripled.
— Approximately 70% of the cars located on the sites of leasing companies are "Chinese", many of them were built in 2022-2023. The situation is aggravated by the fact that, unlike European trucks, to which carriers are accustomed, Chinese trucks have an unpredictable residual value," Anton Melekhin said at the TSA-2026 Forum.
At the same time, some companies, knowing about the imminent withdrawal of equipment, stop servicing it, even if it is elementary to change the oil in the engine. In some cases, carriers even dismantle cars before returning, put "bald" tires on them, and replace some components. As a result, trucks often arrive at leasing companies in a disgusting technical condition, Anton Melekhin noted.
— A certain part of the accumulated 60,000 trucks is already practically worthless. In fact, they can only be handed over at the price of scrap metal — they are unlikely to be sold," said the Risk Director of the Interleasing Group.
According to Maxim Kozin, director of Intra-Logistics, which has both European and Chinese truck models in its fleet, the latter have a much higher loss of residual value. He said that while the average "European" loses about 10% in price over the course of a year, the "Chinese" immediately becomes cheaper by a third over the same period.
— About three years ago, we purchased Chinese tractors for about 8 million rubles each. Now some of them have been put up for sale and no one wants to take them for more than 2 million rubles. At the same time, according to the official "accounting" depreciation standards, the cost of these trucks is 5-6 million rubles," he said.
If the company tries to sell models from European manufacturers with a mileage of 1.5–1.6 million km, then Chinese trucks achieve the same condition with half the mileage, Maxim Kozin noted. The head of the logistics company said that, as a rule, there are no "Chinese" regarding the reliability of engines, boxes, and axles. However, they are experiencing the Russian winters very hard — wiring, electrics and "all sorts of little things" suffer, he noted.
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