Used Car Prices in February... Sedans Rise, SUVs Fall

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] In February, the used car market saw sedan prices rise while large SUVs (Sport Utility Vehicles) declined.

According to the used car price data for February released by the car trading platform Encar.com on the 6th, domestic cars increased by an average of 0.49% compared to the previous month. Among these, sedan models showed a significant upward trend in prices.

The Hyundai Grandeur IG, which had its minimum price drop to the 10 million KRW range last month, saw the largest increase of 6.73% based on the minimum price. Based on the maximum price, the Hyundai Sonata New Rise rose by 4.59%, and the Avante AD increased by 5.97%, both showing substantial gains.

The Genesis G70, which launched a new model at the end of last year, also saw an average price increase of 1.74%. This is analyzed to be due to a surge in demand for popular sedans at reasonable prices after domestic sedan prices sharply dropped last month.

On the other hand, prices for large SUV models generally declined compared to the previous month. Notably, the SsangYong G4 Rexton dropped the most, with a 3.39% decrease based on the minimum price, drawing attention.

This is attributed to the launch of the All New Rexton at the end of last year and aggressive promotions for new car sales earlier this year. Hyundai’s Palisade also saw a 2.71% decrease in minimum price for the second consecutive month.

Imported car prices slightly fell by an average of 0.53% compared to the previous month, with SUV models showing a similar downward trend as domestic cars. The model with the largest price drop was the Mini Cooper, which fell by 3.02% on average compared to the previous month, turning bearish and becoming available for purchase in the 19 to 24 million KRW range. Additionally, the Volvo XC60 2nd generation, which ranks high in sales in the domestic imported SUV market, dropped by 2.35%, and the Ford Explorer decreased by 1.53%.

Park Hong-gyu, Head of Business at Encar.com, said, “It appears that the deferred demand from consumers who postponed used car purchases last winter was reflected more quickly than usual for this period. In particular, transactions were active centered on cost-effective domestic compact sedans.” He added, “For consumers considering purchasing large or compact SUVs, we recommend buying in February before entering the peak season of the used car market.”

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