Czech used car market finally changing as people seek newer vehicles with more accessories

Over a three-year period, the used cars on offer show a decline of one year in age and as well as a drop in the average number of kilometres driven

Prague 18 December 2017 – In 2017, buyers looking for used cars in the Czech Republic could choose from a total of 1,073,000 vehicles at an average price of CZK 205,547. These cars had driven an average of 147,812 km and their age dropped to 9.4 years. Thanks to continuing improvements on the economic front, people can afford to purchase newer vehicles with fewer kilometres on the clock, and with more accessories and safety features. These are the results of the continuous market monitoring carried out by AAA AUTO in the period from 2015 to 2017.

While the average age of used cars in the Czech Republic was 10 years in 2015 and 10.4 years last year, the figure dropped to 9.4 years this year. “Even though there are still many cars on Czech roads that have reached the limit of their useful lives, the demand for younger vehicles is growing and this is also reflected in the overall offer on our market. This is also why we are constantly expanding our offer of used vehicles sold under the Mototechna brand, where there are currently over 1,200 vehicles on offer,“ reports AAA AUTO managing director Karolína Topolová. Over the last year, vehicles advertised on the Czech market have become newer on average by a whole year. The current age is 1.3 years below the European average, which now stands at 10.7 years, according to a survey by ACEA.

The average number of kilometres driven has also fallen. In 2016, the average was 157,177 km, while this year the number is 154,423 kilometres, which is 2,754 less year-on-year.

The last month of the year also saw the traditional jump in sales of newer vehicles with fewer kilometres on the clock. This increase is due to the popular end-of-year discounts offered by used car dealers, which usually continue into January, this year being no exception. “We have held a Black Friday event at AAA Auto for several years now, during which we sell vehicles at discounts of up to tens of thousands of crowns. On the first day of the event this year, we managed to equal last year’s sales and we are targeting the highest vehicle sales for a decade “ said Karolína Topolová.

By 12 December this year, buyers had been offered a total of 1,073,000 cars. “We expect that the final number will slightly exceed last year’s result, mainly because many customers will want to buy a nearly new or used car as a Christmas gift for their nearest and dearest, which is no longer possible with new cars due to the long waiting periods,“ Topolová explained. Prague traditionally offers the greatest number of used cars, with the figure reaching 280,160 this year. At the other end of the scale, the Carlsbad Region offered the lowest number of vehicles (23,851) over the year.

The average price of asked for a used car in 2015 was CZK 180,194, while a year later the average was CZK 192,354 and this year it was CZK 202,547. This translates to an approximate year-on-year increase of CZK 12,000. Over the last three years the price of used cars has increased linearly by the inflation rate alone. This year, price increases actually slowed slightly. While prices rose by 6.7% from 2015 to 2016, they rose by just 6.3% in 2017 compared to 2016.

The most frequently advertised marques in the past year are, as usual, the Czech carmaker Skoda, followed by VW and Ford.

TOP 10 most frequently offered used cars over the last three years:

30 analysts from the AAA Auto purchasing department continuously map the offer of used cars and, in particular, update a price map of used cars covering the entire Central European Region every day. They also monitor adverts on auto servers, in the printed media and also the offer of cars on dealer websites. AAA Auto also analyses up to 15 thousand direct offers of vehicles made to its call centre and through contact forms, of which it actually purchases approximately 5 thousand.