The market for new cars in the country began very promising, according to data of the Association of European Manufacturers (European Automobile Manufacturers Association – ACEA). The registered new cars in the country in January were 1,345 against 1,200 in the first month of 2011. Only five EU countries show about 1,000 car sales this first month: beside Bulgaria, these are Cyprus (1,034 sales), Estonia (1,333), Latvia (882) and Lithuania (1011). It is worth noting however, that from these five markets, the Bulgarian one is with the lowest annual growth rate. The remaining generated increase of: 14.8% for Estonia, 44.8% in Latvia and 19.8% for Lithuania. Only in Cyprus the number of deals fell by 17 percent on annual basis. For the whole EU data are not precisely good – the total new car registrations fell below 1 million and in January they were 968,769 units.
For the entire 2011 Bulgaria reported 19,000 sales, or 180 more than a year earlier but still far from its record high level of 25,520 in 2009. Assuming that the average increase for 2012 will be roughly comparable with the results for January, then we should expect about 21,000 to 22,000 new cars to be sold on the domestic market.
Meanwhile, the market leaders in the segment show almost no change. Sales of Volkswagen and Toyota are at the top, followed by Skoda and Dacia. In absolute terms, however, the leadership is for Dacia. In their competition for buyers companies continue to offer significant discounts. In most cases, the reduction ranged from 10 to 15-16%, which for car priced at BGN30,000 makes a discount of about BGN4,500. Recently, it is fashionable to calculate the cost per month, and the proposals vary from BGN99 to BGN300 depending on the model and the brand. Some prefer to show the price per day, especially for more expensive cars. This way the contribution does not seem particularly high – it is between BGN10-12 for mid-market cars.
In the years of crisis, leasing is becoming the main financial instrument to buy, say dealers. In their opinion, the annual appreciation for this option is really lucrative, compared to interest on bank loans – and stay at only 3-4 percent. Downpayment on a lease is between 10% and 20%. A manufacturer’s warranty is five years, and there are some proposals for seven years.
Despite the problems in 2012 and the sales on local market will take off, experts predict. Sales will surely exceed 20 thousand units, while good in case of a good progress in the economic situation we can hope to have about 22-24 thousand. The trend showing cheaper cars from lower classes dominating sales will be preserved, and the average price will be around BGN22-24,000. Sales of high-end cars, with prices over 50 thousand will remain at their levels from last year.
