The Bulgarian buys cars on a whim

#Bulgarian #buys #cars #whim

Our country is in second place in the EU in terms of sales growth

In just one month, 3122 new cars were registered in our country

In first place in terms of growth is Croatia

Bulgaria ranks second among EU member states in terms of growth in new car sales. In January, 3,122 new cars were registered in the country, which is 24.4% more compared to the same month last year, according to data from the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers. A greater increase in the sales of new cars was found only in Heratia (+30.7%), where 4,492 new cars were registered for the month.

The current year is again starting extremely strong for the new car market, after last year our country was in first place among the EU countries in terms of sales growth. In 2023, 37,724 new cars were registered in Bulgaria, which is an increase of 31.5% compared to the previous year. Croatia (+31.3%) and Belgium (+30.1%) ranked next in terms of sales growth.

Unlike the situation in the European Union as a whole, the market of new cars in Bulgaria has already surpassed the levels of the time before the pandemic. In January 2019, the last year before the pandemic, only 2,344 new cars were registered in our country. In January 2020, shortly before the pandemic spread to Europe, 2,347 new cars were registered in Bulgaria. In January of the current year 2024, the purchases of new cars have increased by 33 percent compared to the transactions realized in the first month of 2020.

The situation in the EU countries as a whole is completely different. The car market cannot yet return to pre-pandemic levels. In total, 851.69 thousand new cars were sold in the EU countries in January 2024. In January 2019, purchases of new cars in the EU were over 1 million units, and in the first month of 2020, 956.78 sales were realized. Sales in the first month of this year are 17.6% below the level of January 2019.

The growth of new car purchases in Bulgaria is due to many reasons. On the one hand, there are high earners who prefer to invest their money in cars or real estate instead of keeping it in banks at zero interest. New cars are constantly increasing in price, which leads to an increase in the prices of old cars as well. During the pandemic, there was even a period during which, due to the difficult supply of new cars, owners of old cars could sell them for a higher price than what they bought them for. The situation is not like that now, but for a person who can afford it, it is always a good time to buy a new car.

Low interest rates in Bulgaria create good conditions for buying a new car with borrowed funds. Thus, even people who do not have cash available can buy a new car under advantageous conditions and low monthly payments. For many Bulgarians, buying a car is not just for getting around, it is also a matter of prestige.

In Germany there is an increase of over 19 percent

The biggest markets have not yet recovered

In total for the EU the increase is 12%

The EU new car market has not yet reached pre-pandemic levels.

In the largest markets for new cars in the EU – Germany, Italy and France, the market situation is radically different from that in Bulgaria. Sales in these countries cannot yet reach pre-pandemic levels.

In Germany, 213,000 new cars were registered in January, compared to 265,000 in January 2019. In Italy, 141,000 new cars were bought, compared to 165,000 five years earlier. In France, sales were 122,000, compared to 155,000 before the pandemic.

There are many reasons for this. Among them are supply difficulties during the pandemic and the increase in the price of new cars, which makes them more unaffordable for a large part of Europeans. But the EU market is also developing well. In January, sales of new cars in total for the EU countries increased by more than 12 percent. In Germany, sales growth was 19.1% compared to the same month last year. Apart from Bulgaria and Croatia, there was a greater growth in new car purchases than in Germany in Cyprus (+19.8%), Greece (+21.1%) and Poland (+22.1%).

In Sweden, they buy more electricity than gasoline

There is a decline in electric cars

We prefer gasoline

Sales of electric cars in Bulgaria decreased by 15% in January, and in general for EU countries there was an increase of nearly 30%.

There is a decline in sales of electric cars in Bulgaria. In January, only 135 cars were bought per year, which is 15 percent less compared to the same month last year, according to data from the European Association of Automobile Manufacturers. In the case of plug-in hybrids, there is a 135% increase in sales, but the transactions realized are few – only 33 cars sold. Purchases of hybrid electric cars are also not many – only 64 units per month.

The most preferred fuel by Bulgarians when choosing a new car is gasoline. In January, 2,435 new gasoline cars were registered in the country, which is a 27% increase compared to the same month last year. The number of new diesel cars sold was 419, which is an increase of 17 percent.

In terms of the type of drive of new cars purchased, Bulgaria differs significantly from most EU countries. In total for the EU member states in January there was a drop in sales of diesel cars by 4.9%, and purchases of electric cars increased by 28.9%. The biggest growth in sales of electric cars was in Estonia (+134.5%), Slovakia (+106.7%), Belgium (+75.5%), the Netherlands (+72.2%), Greece (+ 64.8%) and Romania (+52%).

In EU countries, gasoline cars are the most purchased, followed by hybrid electric cars, diesel cars remain in third place, and pure electric cars are in fourth place. But in Sweden, electric cars are already in first place and outnumber gasoline cars. In the Netherlands, sales of electric cars are already approaching those of hybrid electric and gasoline cars.