During the reporting period, 17,701 new cars were imported into the country, while used cars amounted to 197,286 units. The customs value of new foreign cars reached $335 million, and Ukrainians spent $596 million on purchasing used cars.
Compared to the first quarter of 2018, the volume of imported passenger cars increased more than fivefold, but their total value only doubled. This noticeable discrepancy between the dynamics of quantity and customs valuation is explained by significant changes in the import structure caused by preferential legalization of the so-called "euro plates" and the relaxation of rules for importing used cars. As a result, with a slight reduction in new car supplies (by 1.4%), the import of used vehicles jumped more than eightfold.
The average customs value of a new imported car in January-March 2019 rose by $500 compared to the same period last year, reaching $18.9 thousand. At the same time, the average price of a used foreign car, on the contrary, fell by $2.4 thousand, settling at $3 thousand.
According to the results of the first three months of this year, Japan became the leader in new car supplies — 3,454 cars came from there.
Next was Romania with 2,471 cars, and China closes the top three with 2,057 cars. The top five exporting countries of new cars also included Slovakia and Hungary, from which 1,519 and 1,443 cars were imported, respectively.
As for the used car market, the main suppliers in the first quarter were: Lithuania — 47,841 units; Germany — 45,600 units; Poland — 44,890 units; France — 8,324 units; Czech Republic — 7,221 units. In total, these five countries provided 78% of all imports of used passenger cars.
