The pre-owned vehicle market in India has witnessed robust growth as the Indian consumer is now more inclined on purchasing and selling pre-owned vehicles. As highlighted by a recent report by Cars24, an online used-car platform, its sales of pre-owned vehicles registered a massive 75 percent uptick in the fourth quarter of last fiscal, as against its volume in the January-March period.
It is interesting to note that the consumers are now willing to shell out an extra 30 percent to bring home their favourite cars, thereby highlighting the surge in average buying budget during the year.
As highlighted by Cars24’s ‘India mileage report 2022’, mentioned below are the key trends and changing criteria that orchestrated the car purchasing behavior of the consumers.
Mileage remains the top criteria for the Indian car buyer
While there has been a shift towards premiumisation of cars, mileage continues to be the most important factor for an individual while purchasing a vehicle. In fact, last year, every 2 minutes, users enquired about the mileage and the average fuel consumption of various cars using different kinds fuel.
However, interestingly, it was not the only important factor. Premium features like airbags, driver assist system, autoplay music systems, giant screens, camera controls, sunroofs, etc when making a purchase decision became immensely popular with people willing to spend more for them. These features will also be considered important while buying a car in 2023 and drive sales.
There was a surge in people buying cars in different colors such as red, black and blue beyond the traditional white/gray.
Maruti was LUV but other brands were not far behind
In 2022 as well, Maruti continued leading the race for the most popular car brand in India with every 1 in 3 buyers purchasing a Maruti car in 2022. The maximum Maruti cars were bought in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore and Hyderabad followed by Kolkata, Lucknow, Pune and Ahmedabad. Hatchbacks such as Swift, Baleno, Alto, WagonR and Celerio were the most sold Maruti cars in 2022 while the sale of mini SUVs such as Vitara Brezza picked up.
Maruti was followed by Hyundai, Honda and Renault and Ford however, the sale of younger brands such as Kia picked up in the last quarter of the year.
Interestingly, Ford remains to be a top choice for Indians while purchasing used cars despite the company having closed its shutters on our shores.
India wanted its cars to be financed in 2022 ; More millennials bought their first car
According to the data shared by CARS24, more Indians preferred getting their cars financed in 2022. Maximum cars were financed for users in cities like Hyderabad, Lucknow and Kolkata. The highest loan was taken for Rs 25 lakh by a user in Delhi.
While financing, Indians preferred the tenure of 6 years as it gives more flexibility to pay and decreases the payment burden. The average EMI amount in 2022 was Rs 11,500, and the majority of loans were taken by salaried professionals.
Amongst metro cities, Bengaluru purchased the maximum cars in 2022 followed by Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai. Swifting through the heavy traffic with its smaller size and great speed, Maruti’s Swift was the most popular car in Bengaluru, Delhi and Chennai while Mumbai shopped for WagonR and Hyderabad fell in love with Hyundai Grandi10.
The year of buying and selling more cars
Another interesting trend revealed in CARS24’s Mileage Report suggests a whopping 81 percent YoY surge in the number of people buying more than 1 car in a year.
Not only did people shop for more cars, the year also witnessed an all-time high in people selling more than 1 car this year with maximum sellers from New Delhi. Indians in fact sold cars worth thousands of crores in 2022 alone.
