The content of the article:
- Rating of the best selling cars in Ukraine
- Lithuanian transit
- Secrets of Mexican cars
- Americans from Georgia and budget Canadians
The Ukravtoprom Association analyzed the vehicles imported into Ukraine and made a rating of the main suppliers of cars for its citizens. If the love for German, American and Japanese cars remained unchanged, the increase in imports from Mexico turned out to be too rapid and unexpected even for experts.
Rating of the best selling cars in Ukraine
The choice of cars in Ukraine, both new and used, is amazingly diverse, many times exceeding the Russian one. Moreover, Ukrainians equally acquire budgetary, practical, reliable models and premium brands of millionth value. Among them are the long-term leaders of the national rating, who satisfy with the ratio of price and quality, appetite for fuel and oil, a set of technologies and options, economy and durability: Volkswagen, Toyota, Ford, Chevrolet.
This year, the country imported 31% more cars than last year - 51.2 thousand units. Of these, more than 41 thousand are light vehicles, and more than half of this amount entered the car market as second-hand, guided by Law No. 3251 on customs clearance of foreign cars.
Germany has become the absolute leader again, from which about 8 thousand cars were received - 7 thousand of them were used.
Second place went to America with a volume of almost 5 thousand cars, where 4000 units are used and the lion's share of electric cars. The increased popularity of electric transport is explained by their affordable cost in the United States, as well as the zero customs duty established in Ukraine.
About 4 thousand cars arrived from Japan, which ensured an honorable third place. Unlike the previous contestants, they were mostly new.
The fourth place is confidently held by France, from where 3.8 thousand units come from every year. However, from this country, motorists prefer to bring used models, the volume of which is more than 90%.
But the fifth place was occupied by Mexico for the first time, from which 2,500 cars worth over $ 20 million arrived, new by 63%. In addition, many more representatives from other unexpected and remote corners of the world poured into the country.
Lithuanian transit
The scheme for the transit of European cars through Lithuania has been worked out for years and is well known, although it is carried out through "gray" channels. For this, there are a number of companies, real or fictitious, whose main function is to register vehicles transported to Ukraine. The transit period is 5-10 days, during which the Lithuanian driver must hand the vehicle over to the owner. The firm receives a good remuneration for this, and the customs officers - the agreed "tip".
But the Ukrainian Customs Code under the word "transit" presupposes the movement of goods without their subsequent use. The scheme described above assumes a very specific intent - to import and leave a car in the country for subsequent operation, and not just overtake it across the country. Such actions already fall under Article 485 of the Code on unlawful evasion of customs duties, which implies a substantial fine.
Ukrainian legislation every year toughens measures against the so-called "camels" - carriers of transit vehicles, which now face fines of hundreds of thousands of hryvnia. Moreover, both a company and an individual can participate in the scheme, registering the car for himself, arriving in Ukraine on it and transferring it to the rightful owner by power of attorney. Such a fraud is absolutely illegal and threatens with a fine of 300% of the amount of all unpaid duties and payments.
Recently, Lithuanian citizens have become practically no longer traveling, and the customs have been obliged to demand from them a certificate from the official place of work in order to immediately calculate the "camels". The cost of such a document varies in the range of 150-200 euros, which not all future car owners agree to pay, and the carriers themselves do not make inquiries "in reserve". Therefore, Lithuanian transit is getting smaller every day, and a similar scheme from the Polish side will follow.
In conditions of such tough pressure, when foreign cars are cheaper, but become less and less accessible, and those legally sold on the market are not only more expensive, but also do not always have the desired equipment, drivers show a justified interest in other countries.
Secrets of Mexican Cars
If we analyze the cars imported from Mexico, then most of them are Volkswagen Golfs. Given the predilection of Ukrainian motorists for the German car industry, the demand for this model is quite understandable. But is it that simple?
When information appeared about the start of sales of the Golf Sportwagen at a price of 18 thousand dollars, the drivers did not believe their eyes. In fact, this model in a good configuration costs at least 30 thousand dollars, while Ukrainian dealers offered the top version with the maximum filling for a maximum of 22 thousand dollars. Wherein even the simplest equipment provides:
- 8 airbags;
- 2-liter 150-horsepower turbocharged diesel engine;
- adaptive cruise control;
- Rear View Camera;
- 6-speed DSG;
- panoramic roof;
- keyless access;
- audio and multimedia systems.
The station wagon model has a standard 2.0 TDI engine, reliable in operation and low-cost in maintenance, halogen optics, 18-inch wheels with 40 rubber profiles.
Among the shortcomings - navigation is presented exclusively in the form of the territories of North America and is subject to flashing only unofficially, carried out by "folk craftsmen". However, with many cards in any modern smartphone, this subtlety can hardly be called a big problem.
In addition, at a low price, the internal "filling" turned out to be even richer than the models officially supplied from Europe, which rolls back all the Golf's closest competitors. Moreover, these models are not supplied with such rich content for every car market. Of course, consumers are asking the question - is there a catch?
First of all, you need to understand that from Mexico are those cars that were recalled by Volkswagen from the United States after the scandal known as Dieselgate. These are models released in 2015 and designed specifically for the American consumer, and therefore even the scale on the dashboard is in miles. There is information that it was also duplicated in kilometers, and the car itself was adapted for operation on Ukrainian roads, but this must be checked empirically.
Auto experts who have studied the current situation in the car market are in a hurry to calm down worried consumers. Many subsidiaries of the world's leading automakers are based in Mexico, whose models are officially cleared through customs and assigned Ukrainian registration plates. Therefore, in the future, we should expect an increase in the number of the Mexican car industry, especially given the demand for it from motorists.
"Americans" from Georgia and budget "Canadians"
The percentage of cars imported from Canada and Georgia also increased. Experts cite the following reasons for this preference:
- Canadian cars are cheaper due to a smaller tax base.
- When ordering a car from Canada, the consumer gets more control over the transportation process of his purchase (route map, acceptance certificates, detailed reports on the condition of the vehicle, etc.), which is strikingly different from deliveries from America, for example.
- Thanks to loyal Georgian legislation, cars in the so-called "emergency" state can be imported into this country without problems in transit mode, where they are then overhauled and sent for sale to Ukraine.
At the moment, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine decided to take a closer look at the Moldovan legislation on the legalization of vehicles with European registration and apply it on the territory of their country. A bill has already been registered to abolish value added tax and excise duty on cars imported into Ukraine for the purpose of operating cars with foreign numbers.
The mystery of the popularity of Mexican cars has become clear - this is an ordinary German car industry, which does not have the notorious scandalous software that underestimated the level of emissions. Although Golf Sportwagen is no longer sold in America, it has not ceased to be the same world-famous Volkswagen, high-quality and reliable, which Ukrainian car owners are happy to drive.
In addition, this is far from the first experiment with deliveries of this kind to Ukraine - previously Volkswagen Jetta have already been imported into the country, which instantly scattered among their owners in the very first days.
