Car import doubled

By Azernews

By Amina Nazarli

Azerbaijan has recorded a significant rise in the car import – the figure doubled in the first seven months of 2017.

The data for January-July from the State Customs Committee show that the country imported 4,468 units of vehicles compared to 2,879 units in 2016.

Some 3,791 out of the total number of vehicles imported during the seven months of this year are motor vehicles, while the figure was 2, 475 in the same period of last year.  

Experts note an increase in the domestic car market. So, if in 2005 the number of cars did not exceed 50,000, then today their number exceeds 1.3 million. The State Customs Committee of Azerbaijan stated that in January-May of 2017, the car import increased by 18.99 percent against a fall of 4.66 times in 2016.

However, still Azerbaijan lags behind not only Russia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, but also neighboring Georgia in terms of the number of cars per capita.

Over the past three years, the car import to Azerbaijan decreased. The figure dropped from 104,000 cars in 2013 to 5,600 in 2016, what is according to experts is due to the requirement on introduction of environmental standards and toughening the issuance of car loans from banks.

The shift to Euro-4 in 2014 influenced taxes on imported cars. Prices for cars meeting Euro-4 standards are higher than prices for Euro-2 standard cars. Depending on the size of the engine, the amount of taxes on cars imported into the country varies.

Currently, the renewal of the car park occurs at the expense of economy class cars. In the primary market, the largest number of cars is bought from manufacturers from Asia. The four bestsellers are Toyota, Hyundai, Nissan and KIA, which account for 40 percent of the total market. More than 30 percent of sales on the car market of Azerbaijan falls on Mercedes brand, the remaining 67-68 percent of the automotive market shares 50 other brands, according to Sputnik Azerbaijan.  

Last year, there was a noticeable increase in car prices, in particular, prices in the primary market increased by more than 50 percent following the devaluation of the national currency.

In the secondary market, the price increase depends on the car's output period. For example, from the end of the 1990s to the early 2000s, prices rose by 10-15 percent, from 2002 to 2008 by 15-20 percent and in 2009-2016 by 20-30 percent.