Even if You Buy a New Car Now, the Waiting Time Is 1 Year... Used Car Prices Are Likely to Rise Further

Genesis Electric Vehicle GV60

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] The shortage of automotive semiconductors has continued into the beginning of the year, significantly increasing the waiting period for new cars.

According to the automotive industry on the 23rd, the backorder volumes for Hyundai Motor and Kia this month are reportedly reaching 1 million units each. Compared to the pre-COVID-19 period, this represents a twofold increase for Hyundai and about a threefold increase for Kia.

The global shortage of automotive semiconductors, which began in earnest last year, remains unresolved this year, causing backorders to rise sharply.

With the rapid increase in electric vehicle sales, semiconductor demand is growing further, but the expansion of production capacity by automotive semiconductor companies is progressing slowly, leading to expectations that the supply shortage will continue this year as well.

According to the semiconductor industry, global automotive semiconductor companies have already received reservations exceeding about 20-30% above this year's production capacity and are currently accepting orders for next year.

As a result, consumers are also experiencing greater difficulties. For popular electric vehicle models from Hyundai Motor Group such as the Ioniq 5, EV6, and GV60, even if a purchase decision is made now, it is impossible to receive the vehicle within this year, requiring a waiting period of more than 13 months. Popular hybrid sport utility vehicle (SUV) models like the Sorento and Sportage also have waiting periods exceeding one year.

As the waiting period for new cars lengthens, the value of used cars is also rising. The mobile used car platform Cheotcha predicted that the average expected purchase price of the Avante AD, which had the highest transaction volume in December last year, will increase by more than 500,000 KRW in January compared to the previous month.

Cheotcha explained that due to delays in the delivery of the new Avante, which takes more than six months until handover, purchasing demand is naturally shifting toward used cars.

Shinsehyeon Shin, director at Cheotcha, said, "As the delivery delay phenomenon enters a prolonged phase, it has become difficult to flood the market with new car inventory," adding, "Interest in nearly new used cars is hotter than ever these days."