Signs of recovery in used car sales, standard passenger cars increased for the first time in 10 months last month

There are signs of recovery in used car sales, which had been declining due to shortages due to production cuts in new cars.

In the sales volume of used cars last month, which was announced on the 12th, ordinary passenger cars turned positive for the first time in 10 months.

According to the Federation of Japan Automobile Dealers Associations, the number of used cars sold last month, excluding mini vehicles, was 37,7383 units, down 0.7% from the same month of the previous year, and the decline has almost stopped.

Of these, sales of medium-sized passenger cars were 21,7017 units, turning positive for the first time in 10 months.

As for used cars, as a result of automakers cutting production due to the semiconductor shortage, there was a shortage of used cars that were traded in, which led to a rise in prices, and sales continued to decline.

After that, the semiconductor shortage improved and new car production was on a recent recovery trend, which led to a recovery in used car sales.

According to the Federation of Japan Automobile Dealers Associations, "The number of used cars on the market has been recovering as new car production recovers, and although the level of used car prices is still higher than before the pandemic, the used car market is expected to normalize the supply-demand balance as new car sales recover."

Used car prices Signs of a drop

The price of used cars, which had been soaring, is also showing signs of falling.

According to USS, the largest used car auction operator, the average winning bid price among brokers with whom this company brokered transactions turned negative year-on-year for the first time in two years and nine months in February.

Last month was also below the previous year for the second month in a row.

The average winning bid price was around 2,2 yen to 9,2 yen on average before the Corona disaster, but the price continued to soar due to a shortage of used cars traded in due to reduced production of new cars.

Last year, it exceeded 60 million yen, and in September it reached 70,100,9 yen, the highest price since 2000.

The average winning bid price last month was 122,1000 yen, which is a high level but shows signs of a decline.

Seiji Sugiura, a senior analyst at the Tokai Tokyo Research Center, who is familiar with the used car market, said, "Prices are calming down for the time being, and changes are emerging, but they have not returned to pre-pandemic levels, and we should still pay close attention to the situation."

Production and sales of new cars: Recovery trend also moves to raise prices due to soaring raw material prices

Production and sales by automakers are also on a recovery trend.

According to the Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association Japan of Japan and others, automobile production in Japan turned positive in August last year, and in January it exceeded the previous year's level by 1%, although it had been below the previous year's level for one year due to the semiconductor shortage and other factors.

In addition, more than 8.1 million new vehicles were sold in Japan in the last fiscal year, an increase of 13% from the previous fiscal year and the first increase in four years.

The semiconductor shortage, which was a major factor in the decline in automobile production, has been on an improving trend.

Although the status of improvement varies depending on the procurement system of each company, each company has been promoting measures such as switching from custom-made products for automobiles to general-purpose products that are generally distributed, and diversifying suppliers.

The delivery time for new cars is also improving.

In some cases, the delivery time was delayed by more than one year, but now some models have shortened the delivery time from one month to two months.

On the other hand, in response to soaring raw material prices, there have been a series of moves to raise the prices of new cars.

From last month to this month, Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. announced that it would raise the prices of five models including the X-Trail by up to 1%, and Honda also announced that it would raise the prices of three models including the N-BOX by up to 438%.

In addition to this, some companies are changing prices in line with model changes, effectively raising prices.

Although sales of new cars have entered a recovery trend, there are also moves to raise prices one after another, and the focus will be on whether demand for cars will recover to pre-pandemic levels.