The fall in the ruble exchange rate will lead to an increase in car prices by 1%-5% by the end of the year – Kommersant

The increase in prices will be slowed down by the large volume of car stocks at dealers and importers, says Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine. Another “guarantee” of the relative stability of the pricing policy, expert Sergei Udalov from Autostat, called the reluctance of car dealers to raise prices due to the risk of a significant loss of demand.

The high interest rate of the Central Bank (21% since October 25) has led to an increase in the cost of consumer loans, which is one of the most popular ways of buying a car among consumers, noted Evgeniy Zhitnukhin, senior director of the Central Bank. New car market. “The loans that one in two buyers need have become more expensive and banks are less willing to approve them,” he said. According to Zhitnukhin, manufacturers will not raise prices before the end of the year, as this could reduce sales.

The director of the new car department at Rolf, Nikolai Ivanov, predicted an increase in the price of officially supplied cars by 3-5%, and for parallel imported cars – in proportion to the degree of weakening of the exchange rate of the ruble. . Another interlocutor of the newspaper allowed the price of cars to increase by up to 15%, keeping the value of the dollar above 100 rubles.

According to the AEB Automobile Manufacturers’ Committee, in October this year, total sales of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles amounted to 177.5 thousand units, taking into account parallel imports. At the same time, sales for the 10 months of 2024 are 57% higher than the same period last year. In October 2023, 110 thousand cars were sold, 51% less than in October of this year.

“The stock of cars formed by dealers, as well as the pent-up demand that still exists, will provide support. [продажам и уровню цен] For longer,” stressed the president of the Committee, Alexei Kalitsev. At the same time, the expert noted, in the near future the downward trend in demand and market activity will intensify due to rising credit costs, and the market may potentially need government support.