January Used Car Prices Fall Due to Off-Season Impact... "Best Time to Buy Used Sedans"

[Asia Economy Reporter Suyeon Woo] Used car prices in January this year dropped significantly due to the off-season effect. The decline was particularly notable in used sedan models, leading to an analysis that now is an optimal time to purchase.

According to the January used car prices released by Encar.com on the 8th, domestic car prices fell by 1.65% compared to the previous month, while imported car prices also dropped by 1.64%. These prices reflect the 2018 popular models of domestic automakers such as Hyundai Motor Company, Kia Motors, Renault Samsung, SsangYong, and imported brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi.

While used car prices tend to rise slightly at the beginning of the year due to increased purchase demand from consumers who postponed buying at the end of the previous year, Encar.com explained that January remains an off-season for the used car market, resulting in an overall decline of about 1% in used car prices for both domestic and imported cars.

In particular, with the continued preference trend for Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs) and the anticipated release of various new SUV models in the new year, the price decline of domestic and imported sedan models was prominent.

Domestic car prices showed a significant decline in popular sedans available for purchase in the 10 million KRW range. Based on minimum prices, the Hyundai Grandeur IG gasoline model dropped the most at 5.01%, while based on maximum prices, the Sonata New Rise fell by 6.96% and the Avante AD by 5.92%. On the other hand, the Genesis G70 maintained a steady price despite the facelift model release at the end of last year, attracting attention.

The domestic large SUV Palisade, a popular model available immediately without waiting in the used car market and priced similarly to new cars, saw a slight price decrease of 0.45%.

Imported car prices also fell by 1.64% compared to the previous month, with a noticeable decline in premium brand sedans overall. The Audi A4 dropped by 3.84%, the Mercedes-Benz C-Class by 3.36%, and the BMW 5 Series by 3.11%.

While prices of imported sedan models declined, the Mini Cooper increased by 1.64%, and the Chevrolet The New Spark rose by 1.49%. The model with the largest price drop was the Volkswagen Tiguan 2nd generation, which fell by 7.94% based on minimum prices.

Park Hong-gyu, Head of Business Division at Encar.com, said, "January this year continued the off-season situation from the end of last year in the used car market, leading to an overall decline in used car prices. It is a good time to purchase popular domestic and imported sedan models." He added, "We will continue to strengthen our services so that consumers can trade used cars with confidence this year as well."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.