Hungarians sold and bought 316,964 used cars in January-September, up 2.1% yr/yr, however, a decline registered in September suggests that the market could start falling next year, brand manager Zoltan Horvath of Weltauto, the used car division of Porsche Hungaria, said.
Used car sales totalled 108,411 in the third quarter, still up 0.7% from a year earlier. In September, however, sales were down 6.5% yr/yr.
Used car imports rose to more than 3,800 in September from around 1,500 per month from the beginning of the year. The strong euro rate, however, gives a boost to car exports, Mr Horvath noted. Around 800-1,000 cars a month are taken out of the country.
Several legal changes could influence the market in the future, the brand manager pointed out. One of these is the lowering of the registration tax, by an average 30%, effective from January. At the same time, the vehicle transfer duty could double or even triple from January. The government envisages revenue of HUF 45bn from this tax for 2012, 30% more than this year.
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