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2009-10-26 00:00:00
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Sales of new cars are up while fewer used cars are being imported
In September, Polish dealerships sold 24,991 cars, an 8.14 percent rise y/y and 18.6 percent rise m/m, according to car-industry research institute Samar. The first three quarters of 2009 saw 1.7 percent more new cars driven out of dealerships than in the same period last year.
Sales have been boosted in large part thanks to a tax break which allows firms that buy cars with metal grids installed behind the back seat to avoid paying 22 percent VAT.
“About 40 percent of firms are waiting to see how the economy will evolve and have suspended their decisions on car-fleet renewals,” said Ireneusz TymiĹski, general manager at KBC Autolease Polska. He argued that there will be another boost in sales by the end of the year, as the government plans to put the grid tax break on hold starting next year.
While new vehicles are selling, used cars are suffering. Due to an expensive euro, imported used cars are not as attractive as they once were. Moreover, in Germany, Poland’s biggest source of used-car imports, a car-scrappage program has made it more profitable for a German car owner to get rid of his old vehicle than to sell it to a Pole. As a result, Samar forecasts that used-car imports may fall by 38 percent this year. It should be taken into account, however, that 2008 was a record-breaking year, with 1.1 million used cars imported to Poland. Still, many owners of used-car dealerships face the threat of going out of business.
Meanwhile, in a similar trend to those seen in other countries, the production of new cars in the first three quarters of 2009 fell by 19.7 percent. Because of a drop in demand across Europe, the Opel plant in Gliwice has manufactured 56 percent fewer cars than in the same period last year.
The fate of that particular factory is still unknown as the sale contract with Opel’s new investors Russian Sberbank and Canadian Magna depends on an agreement between Germany and other countries on a financial aid package for the future owner. Other parties and labor unions fear that plants in their countries will be closed despite their contributions.
From Warsaw Business Journal by Marcin PoznaĹ |
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