Young Indians are driving record sales in the automotive industry, not only in the new car segment, but also in the used car segment. The demand for new-age features, even in used cars, is a phenomenon that has become more pronounced after the COVID-19 pandemic.
India's largest automaker Maruti Suzuki and India's second largest Hyundai are seeing higher-than-expected demand for used vehicles, mostly from young first-time buyers who prefer sport utility vehicles (SUVs). Thing. .
This trend is not only seen in used car sales, but also in new car sales, where young people under the age of 30 account for a quarter of sales, up about 5% in the last three years.
Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai Motors and Tata Motors collectively account for about 70% of total domestic PV sales, and all have a healthy response from buyers under the age of 30. Sales are about 23% each, lower than the industry average, but at Tata Motors, nearly 30% of his sales are from people under the age of 30.
Businesses say personal mobility preferences are gaining momentum after COVID-19. “As far as True Value (the brand name of Maruti's used car dealerships) is concerned, we have grown 33% year-over-year, amidst the post-pandemic preference for personal mobility. Nearly 50 of our used car buyers % are in the 18-35 age group, and almost 45% of POC buyers are in the 36-60 age group, with the remainder being 65 and older." Senior Executive, Marketing & Sales, MSIL Officer Shashank Srivastava was quoted in an email reply.
“About 67% of POC buyers were first-time buyers, while the rest purchased POCs as additional vehicles or replaced existing ones.”
Hyundai said it reported a 21% increase in car sales across its stores from January to November this year compared to last year.
“H-Promise (the brand name of Hyundai’s second-hand car dealership) counts Gen Z, millennials and baby boomers among its loyal customers. It's the largest piece of the pie when it comes to used car sales in ," the company said in an email reply.
New companies are also entering the charm of such a used car market. In just three years he entered the used car sales space with Kia India. “With Kia’s authorized used car dealerships, the company plans to offer customers a new-age experience that provides them with a hassle-free used car sale, purchase or trade-in, in keeping with the experience of buying a new car. Transfer of ownership and customized financing options," Kia said in a press statement. Currently, Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai and Mahindra are entering the used car sales space. Mahindra did not respond to Indian Express inquiries. Both companies are also witnessing demand for new-age features such as SUVs and automatic gearboxes. “Like new cars, SUVs and MPVs are in high demand in the used car space. The SUV and MPV segments also have fast replacement cycles, so owners are selling their SUVs much faster than other segments.” said Srivastava. Hyundai said, "The most popular features sought by our pre-owned customers include company-equipped AVN (audio, video navigation) systems, automatic climate control, airbags, braking systems such as ABS with EBD, and automatic gearboxes. And so on. In the used car category, gasoline car sales account for a significant portion of both Maruti's and Hyundai's sales.