Topauto: summer brought serious buyers to the car market — the tyre-kickers have vanished
Car dealers' July and August sales and enquiry figures show that people have gradually started to take more interest in buying a car. More than before, showrooms are seeing customers who genuinely have the interest and need to change their car, while there are fewer people simply browsing.
In July, car sales in Estonia grew by 45% compared with the same period last year, and August sales continued on the same course. The number of enquiries is also on the rise, which suggests that people have developed a need to replace their vehicles with newer ones despite the car and registration tax.
“The average growth in enquiries across this whole year is nearly 30%, and in July–August close to 40%. We can see that buyers have become more serious, and there are considerably fewer tyre-kickers who send enquiries everywhere but never actually make a purchase. People are increasingly coming in with the intention to buy,” said Topauto sales manager Janek Eskor.
According to him, one of the main reasons for changing cars is the expiry of the warranty. Once a person has grown used to their everyday vehicle having a valid manufacturer's warranty, they are generally reluctant to give it up.
“The customer weighs carefully whether, once the warranty ends, they want to risk facing an unplanned repair at some point. Today we see that people prefer to trade their car in for a fresher model with a warranty. The usual warranty length is five years, but for some brands it is longer — for example Mitsubishi 7 years, Citroën and Opel 8 years, and Honda also 8 years from next year — and once that time has passed, people consider it rational to change the car,” Eskor explained.
The second category this summer has been customers returning to the new-car market who are buying cars priced under 30,000 euros.
“High fuel prices and taxes have put people in a position where the cost of personal transport is calculated very carefully, and based on that they opt for more economical vehicles, which are also cheaper in price,” Eskor noted.
For September, Eskor forecasts sales figures on a par with the summer and does not expect a jump.
Topauto has operated in the Estonian car market since 1994 and sells Hyundai, SEAT, CUPRA, Suzuki, Isuzu, Citroën, Mitsubishi, Honda, Opel and KGM models. The company regularly supports culture and sport.
