October Used Car Prices: Domestic Sedans Decline, Imported Sedans Rise

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] In the used car market in October, prices of domestic sedans declined while imported sedans showed an upward trend.

Car trading platform Encar.com released the used car price data for October 2021 on the 10th based on big data.

According to Encar.com, the overall average price of domestic cars slightly decreased by 0.30% compared to the previous month, with sedan models continuing to experience a decline in prices.

Compact sedans such as the Hyundai Avante AD, Kia The New K5 2nd generation, and All New K3 fell slightly by 0.34%, 0.31%, and 0.08%, respectively, while luxury sedan models like the Genesis G80, G70, and Kia All New K7 saw a somewhat larger price drop of around 1%.

On the other hand, among domestic sedan models that had been experiencing continuous price declines for several months, the Hyundai Sonata New Rise showed a relatively significant average price increase of 2.02% this month compared to other sedan models.

SUVs (Sports Utility Vehicles), which had been steadily rising, showed no significant overall price changes, but the Hyundai Kona and Kia The New Sorento rose slightly by 0.34% and 0.32%, respectively, while models such as the Santa Fe TM, All New Tucson, 4th generation Sportage, and Tivoli Armor experienced minor price decreases.

Imported cars saw an average price decrease of 0.21% compared to the previous month. Among imported cars, sedan models generally showed an upward trend in average prices compared to SUVs.

The model with the largest increase in average price was the Audi A4 (B9), which rose 3.67% compared to the previous month, with the minimum price increasing significantly by 6.51%, reaching 26.14 million KRW, up 1.6 million KRW from the previous month. Next was the Mercedes-Benz C-Class W205, with the average price rising 1.68% and the maximum price increasing by 3.65%.

Among SUV models, the Jeep Renegade's average price fell the most by 2.65%, followed by the Volvo XC60 2nd generation and XC90 2nd generation, which showed declines of around 1%. The XC60, known for good price retention, appears to have been affected by the release of the new XC60 model. Additionally, the Mini Cooper dropped 1.15%, and the Land Rover Range Rover Evoque fell 1.17%.

An Encar.com official stated, “While the price decline of domestic sedans has continued this year, the overall price increase of imported sedans in October is noticeable. As the year-end approaches, used car demand often decreases due to new model releases and discount promotions, so customers considering selling their own cars are recommended to sell this month.”