Yes, experts have established that if in 2020 cars of the C-segment (compact class), which includes, in particular, Volkswagen Golf, Ford Focus, Peugeot 308, Renault Megane or Toyota Corolla, cost on average 18.4 thousand euros, then already in 2020 – almost 30 thousand. That is, they rose in price by 63%.
One of the reasons for such growth can be considered electric vehicles and hybrids: such cars have become especially popular in the last decade and they, as is known, are traditionally more expensive than petrol and diesel counterparts. However, if cars on electric traction are excluded from the statistics, the price increase for compacts still turns out to be impressive – 56%.
Another example is B-class models. Cars from this cheaper segment – Volkswagen Polo, Ford Fiesta and Opel Corsa – also grew, but not so rapidly – by 56%. So, if in 2002 a buyer paid 13 thousand euros for an average budget car, then already in 2020 – almost 21 thousand.
At the same time, it is noted that the largest price jump occurred in the last decade. So, in the period from 2002 to 2010, the same Polo in Germany rose in price by 18%, and already in 2010-2020 – by 35%.
These calculations, however, do not take into account inflation. A simple calculation shows that the same 18.4 thousand euros 18 years ago equaled approximately 24.8 thousand last year. In this case, we can talk about a price increase of “only” 21%.
In Automobilwoche, they emphasized that, despite such figures, even in 2020 manufacturers offered cheap cars, but buyers, as a rule, chose more expensive cars. One of the reasons for this may be the spread of leasing, in which the amount divided into small payments does not hit the wallet as much as paying the full cost of the car (in other words, under such circumstances, consumers can afford to pay extra for a good trim level).
