The used car prices for domestic mid-sized sedans, which were approaching 30 million won, are now entering a “reasonable price range” in the 20 million won area, resulting in increased demand.
K Car analyzed the average prices of over 740 models launched within the last 12 years in the domestic used car market and projected on April 4th that the average price of the Hyundai The New Grandeur, a mid-sized sedan, will be 25.74 million won in March, reflecting a 1.0% decline compared to the previous month. Considering that used car prices generally depreciate by around 1% each month, this can be interpreted as a stable trend.
The New Grandeur is a mid-sized sedan model that was introduced between 2019 and 2022, and it was launched just before the latest model in the Grandeur series, the Grandeur GN7. The average price of The New Grandeur has continued to drop from 27 million won in December last year to 26.81 million won in January and 26 million won in February. Notably, there was a decline of about 3% in February compared to the previous month, resulting in increased demand as the purchase burden eased, leading to a slowdown in the fall.
The Kia K8 (2021 – present), which is considered to be in the same class as The New Grandeur, also saw a decline in prices from 30.39 million won in December last year to 30.07 million won in January, 29.79 million won in February, and 29.56 million won in March. It shows a similar declining trend to its sibling, The New Grandeur.
Jo Eun-hyung, an analyst from K Car’s PM team, explained, “As the prices of popular domestic mid-sized sedans decline, the demand from consumers seeking these models is increasing. Sales are becoming active in models priced in the mid-20 to 30 million won range, leading to a rapid turnover of inventory.”
On the other hand, looking at imported car brands, the decline in prices of large vehicles and models from BMW and Mercedes-Benz, which had seen significant depreciation due to new car sales promotions, has recently decreased to about half compared to the previous month. The average depreciation for BMW was 1.5%, and for Mercedes-Benz, it was 1.7%, a significant drop from the previous month’s level of around 3%. This decrease is likely due to the resolution of factors that were causing price declines, as the competitive promotions that took place at the end of the year have mostly ended.
Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr