Many people opt to purchase “used” cars out of concern that new cars lose their value. Photo: B?i H?. |
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Toan from Ho Chi Minh City recently bought a pre-owned Ford Everest earlier this year after careful consideration. According to Mr. Toan, his family had originally planned to buy a brand-new car by the end of 2022. However, after witnessing the rapid depreciation, Mr. Toan decided to opt for the “used” car category to save costs.
Many people opt to buy “used” cars
“Initially, my wife and I had planned to buy a new car by the end of last year. However, due to various reasons, we postponed the plan. Surprisingly, within a few months, the prices of new cars dropped significantly. I calculated that if I had bought a new car by the end of last year, I would have incurred a loss of several hundred million VND,” shared Mr. Toan.
Similarly, numerous car groups on social media have been discussing the purchase and sale of pre-owned cars during this time instead of opting for new cars. Mr. Tu Nguyen from Ho Chi Minh City, who owns a pre-owned car business in District 10, stated that the trend of customers opting for pre-owned cars has changed considerably compared to previous years.
Customer profiles have changed, but the sales at many pre-owned car stores have not experienced significant growth. Photo: B?i H?. |
Specifically, in the past, customers who visited the store were typically groups of individuals who needed cars for taxi and service business purposes. However, since the beginning of this year, more individual customers have visited, as they initially intended to purchase new cars but later changed their decision.
“Many customers have confided that they originally planned to buy a new car. However, when they observed the quickly dropping car prices, they switched to “used” cars to save money. Previously, several SUV models or used B-class sedans sold quite well due to high demand for service vehicles. Recently, this customer group has significantly decreased, partly due to economic difficulties,” commented Mr. Tu.
According to the store owner, despite the change in customer profiles, sales in recent months have not witnessed significant growth and, in some cases, have even decreased due to market impact. In 2022, Mr. Tu was able to sell up to 10 cars per month. However, recently, the number of cars sold per month has decreased by 40%.
Fear of New Cars Depreciating in Value
According to reporters, the situation of “depreciation” is not limited to specific car models. Numerous popular car models are experiencing depreciation due to market impact. Specifically, Hyundai Santa Fe, Ford Everest, and the luxury car Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 all face the scenario of “buy high, sell low”.
Hyundai Santa Fe has experienced a drop in prices of hundreds of million VND, even after driving it for less than a year. The reason for this is that many customers who purchased cars in 2022 had to bear a price difference of up to 200 million VND, which increased the on-road price of the Hyundai Santa Fe to 1.8 billion VND.
At the beginning of 2023, many dealers quickly introduced incentives for this SUV model to clear their stock, causing the prices of new cars to plummet. Currently, the listed prices for this large SUV range from 1,055 to 1,375 billion VND, with options for gasoline and diesel engines.
Therefore, for the premium diesel version, the after-road price now ranges from 1,335 billion VND, which is even lower than the listed price.
In the second-hand market, numerous car owners are advertising to sell this SUV model from 2022 for only around 900 to 1.1 billion VND. Compared to the on-road cost in the previous year, car owners will experience a loss of about 500-600 million VND, even though they drove it for less than a year.
The luxury car Mercedes-Benz GLC 300 also faces a similar depreciation scenario when being resold in the second-hand market for around 2 to 2.1 billion VND for the 2022 model. Compared to the listed price, car owners will experience a loss of up to 600 million VND, without considering the registration fee or accessory upgrades.
The luxury car Mercedes GLC 300 also faces a depreciation scenario. Photo: Minh Quan. |
The second-hand Mercedes GLC 300 from 2021 is also being resold for around 1.7 to 1.9 billion VND. Thus, after just 2 years of driving, car owners who wish to resell this “luxury car” will bear a loss of nearly 1 billion VND.
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