In 2018, the new car market slightly contracted

The results of 2018 in the new car market almost repeated the indicators of 2017: the difference was only 453 cars. Thus, the optimistic forecasts of experts who predicted a 20% growth did not come true. Moreover, demand for new cars decreased by 0.6 percent.

Let's recall how the market situation developed during the past year.

January brought 6.6 thousand registrations of new cars, which is 37% more than in the same period a year earlier. It was this confident start that gave rise to inflated expectations among both analysts and market participants.

In January, Japanese Toyota held the lead — its cars received 941 license plates. However, the most popular model of the month was the Volkswagen Golf, which in other countries had already been withdrawn from sale due to the diesel scandal. In Ukraine, 318 buyers purchased it.

February showed a 21% increase compared to the same month in 2017, reaching 5.8 thousand new cars. Volkswagen took over the lead among brands, chosen by 830 clients. The German brand's success was ensured by 2015 model year cars that fell under "dieselgate," and above all the same Golf. This model was preferred by 408 drivers, making the Volkswagen Golf the bestseller for the second consecutive month.

It is noteworthy that in February, for the first time in a long while, new cars lost their dominance in the primary passenger car market, with their share dropping below 50%. This shift in favor of imported used cars occurred due to a temporary reduction in excise rates on importing cars with mileage.

The first warning sign was March: the number of registrations of new passenger cars decreased by almost 7% compared to March of the previous year, to 6.8 thousand. In the brand ranking, Toyota again led with 898 sold cars, and among models, the Volkswagen Golf took first place for the third consecutive month, receiving 414 registration numbers.

April almost repeated March's volume — just over 6.8 thousand sales of new passenger cars. At the same time, demand returned to positive dynamics: compared to last year, registrations grew by 6%. Again, Toyota was the best (852 cars), but changes occurred in the model ranking: the most sought-after was the Renault Duster, which added 308 units to the Ukrainian car fleet.

In May, Ukrainians bought only a few cars less than in April, but the growth compared to 2017 was 4%. Toyota, losing only 2 cars compared to the previous month, maintained its leadership among brands. And the best model was another "dieselgate" car — the Audi A3, which found 264 owners.

June again cooled the new passenger car market. This time, a decline was recorded both compared to June last year (-5.4%) and to May (-4.8%). In total, during the first summer month, 6.5 thousand cars received license plates. By buying 745 Toyotas, Ukrainians kept the brand at the top of the ranking. After a six-month break, the KIA Sportage regained the title of bestseller — 251 buyers chose it.

The second half of the year started positively. July registrations of new passenger cars grew by 4% to 6.7 thousand units. Most often in mid-summer, Renault cars were registered — 725 units, and the most popular model was again the KIA Sportage with 301 sales.

August added 11%, reaching 7.3 thousand new passenger cars. In the last month of summer, Renault held first place among brands — 986 cars, and the KIA Sportage retained the bestseller title, for which 338 buyers voted.

With the arrival of autumn, a stable negative trend established itself in the new passenger car market.

September demand fell by 14% to 6.8 thousand cars. Leadership among brands again passed to Toyota (918 cars), and the car of the month was the Renault Duster with 307 registrations.

October dropped by 6%: during the month, 7.2 thousand cars were registered, most of which — 897 — were Toyotas. The best sales were again shown by the KIA Sportage — 411 cars.

November continued the negative trend: registrations of new cars decreased by 4% compared to 2017, to 7.3 thousand units. The most popular brand was Renault with 865 sold cars, and the model was the KIA Sportage (448 units).

In December, buyer activity collapsed by 23% compared to last year: just over 7 thousand new passenger cars passed registration. Toyota returned to the top of the brand ranking (821 units), and the bestseller of the final month of 2018 remained the KIA Sportage, chosen by 418 buyers.

According to the results of twelve months of 2018, Toyota took first place among brands in the new passenger car market, with its 10,082 cars receiving first registration numbers. Compared to 2017, Toyota improved its result by 4%.

The most sought-after car of the year was the Renault Duster with 3,465 primary registrations.

Market leaders of 2018 by brand:

TOYOTA — 10082 units;

RENAULT — 8722 units;

VOLKSWAGEN — 6183 units;

NISSAN — 5537 units;

SKODA — 5403 units;

HYUNDAI — 4979 units;

KIA — 4881 units;

FORD — 3128 units;

MAZDA — 3126 units;

AUDI — 2917 units.