In our country, it is nearly impossible to find companies that have recalculated employee salaries taking into account the exchange rate. In February, the devaluation of the hryvnia changed prices by 5%. But that was just the beginning, as already in May the jump in the hryvnia amounted to 20-40 percent.
As is known, at the moment it is difficult to buy a dollar cheaper than 18 hryvnias. And that's if you're lucky. As for the euro, buying this currency for 22-23 hryvnias can be considered a "good deal." What will happen tomorrow, let alone in a week, one can only speculate and guess.
And to make it easier, we decided to put together a short piece comparing prices for some popular cars in Ukraine. Let's start with the Renault Logan, which as of October-November is the most popular new car.
Exactly a year ago, the new Logan sedan in base trim with a 1.2-liter petrol engine cost from 114,800 UAH. Today it is priced at 190,238 hryvnias (and that's with a discount of 14,000 UAH!). As for the diesel version (base trim), in December 2013 it could be purchased for 128,600 hryvnias, today - 227,671 UAH.
One of the cheapest cars in Ukraine - the ZAZ Sens - cost from 57,900 UAH last year. But now the base version of the Ukrainian ZAZ cannot be bought for less than 105,860 UAH.
In November 2013, the Skoda Octavia A7 1.2 TFSI in base Active trim was priced at 180,811 hryvnias. Now the regular price for the same modification is 361,464 UAH (promotional price, at the time of writing - 337,277 hryvnias).
Daewoo Matiz. Today it's even hard to imagine that a new car, albeit a small one, could cost 50,000 hryvnias. Nevertheless, that's exactly how much the Matiz cost in base trim just a year ago. Now - from 91,500 hryvnias.
Thanks to the importer's sound pricing policy, in November 2014 the Ford Focus made it into the top three most popular cars in Ukraine. And that's with a starting price from 264,990 UAH. Although exactly a year ago, under a promotion until November 30, a similar Focus modification with the 1-liter Ecoboost engine could be bought for 143,990 hryvnias (regular price was 162,990 UAH).
When it comes to crossovers, one of the best-selling compact SUVs - the Nissan Juke - with a CVT and a 117-horsepower engine cost 183,370 hryvnias a year ago. Today, the same car in SE trim will cost 360,914 UAH.
One of the leaders in the SUV class - the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado - debuted in Ukraine in November 2013 at a price from 380,586 UAH. The top version with the 4-liter engine then cost 713,496 hryvnias. But in November 2014, for that money you can't even buy a "base" Prado with the 2.7-liter engine. After all, today it costs from 724,100 UAH.
If we analyze the above data, we can come to a disappointing but quite logical conclusion. New cars (even domestic ones) have risen in price exactly as much as the dollar has grown against the hryvnia. More precisely, some models have increased in price even more than doubled, but some - less. And those that have increased less - are mostly among the current bestsellers...
