• Some 500,000 passenger vehicle ownership changes were made in 2021.
• The lack of stock has led to a rise in prices ranging from 10 to 15% • The sector is weighed down by the informal • More than 95% of transactions are carried out between individuals.
Never has the used car market experienced disruptions as strong as those which have lasted since 2020. As it is strongly correlated to the new market, a butterfly effect has occurred on the second-hand market. In question, the shortage of semiconductors. This problem, reported worldwide, directly impacts the new market as importers struggle to build up vehicle inventory and meet customer demand. The latter, therefore not finding a substitute car, keep their vehicles for themselves, while waiting for better days. Consequence: the second-hand market suffers from a lack of supply, thus leading to an imbalance between supply and demand.
“The new car market is made up of 50% by replacement purchases”, underlines Nizar Abdallaoui Maane, founder of Kifal auto, a marketplace dedicated to used cars.
In terms of figures, the second-hand market carried out nearly 600,000 changes in ownership of the gray card in 2021, including around 500,000 for private vehicles. It is up by nearly 25% compared to 2020, but almost stagnant compared to 2019. “So we can say that the market has done more or less well, given the current conditions. However, it should have turned around 600,000 transactions just for private cars., adds Mr. Maane. It must also be said that the used car market was dynamic due to a combination of other factors. In addition to the low availability of new, it should also be noted the absence of promotions on the new market, car shows or even the increase in prices of certain ranges in a context of scarcity.
Faced with strong demand and a fairly reduced supply, prices were forced to increase. It is not a price explosion, even less an alignment of the prices of used cars on new ones. Adil Bennani, president of AIVAM, mentions an increase ranging from 10% to 15%. “Prices have certainly been driven up, but the market is far from the price increase recorded in other countries such as the United States, where it was 40%”, he compares. The observation is not general, at least in the opinion of Mr. Maane who illustrates: “A premium car, BMW having covered 20,000 km with 2 years of age, was sold for barely 10% less than its initial price, whereas in a normal context, it would have lost 30% of its value as soon as it was released. of the dealer”. The examples where a slight discount is operated, on the second-hand market, are numerous. And yet, natural persons are always ready to acquire a vehicle. This seems normal when we know that the rate of personal car equipment remains low in Morocco. It is around 36%, once morest 20% in Turkey, 60% in France, 80% in the USA.
When will there be an end to the crisis? No visibility or forecast can be made as long as this semiconductor crisis is still relevant. However, our interlocutors rule out the possibility of a return to normal during this 1is semester. “The market is expected to continue to suffer in the current semester. The available stock from 2020 was used up in 2021 and since it was difficult to build up last year, dealers would not find anything to market this year., points out Mr. Maane. We therefore speculate on a recovery in the situation at least from June of the current year.
A sector that is always in search of professionalization
The second-hand market is mainly weighed down by the informal sector. More than 95% of transactions are carried out between individuals with or without intermediaries. AIVAM campaigns body and soul to structure the market and direct it towards the organized sector. “Big efforts are being deployed, especially since this same organized sector suffers from cumbersome procedures, both for obtaining the gray card and for the double transfer or, even, the resale in another city where the vehicle was registered…”, maintains Mr. Bennani. Although the sector is beginning to restructure, he believes that, all types of vehicles combined, the “formal” achieves
8,000 to 10,000 sales. This represents barely 1% of the global second-hand market. The fact remains that several importers have invested in the second-hand market, by creating a subsidiary specializing in the recovery of cars, whether of the same brand or not for some. The objective is to structure the market, especially since these intermediaries pay no tax, give no guarantee and have no charges to bear. While transactions on the new home market are close to
176,000, there are 600,000 on the second-hand market. The latter thus represents 3.5 times the market of
1time hand. It is therefore in the interest of the State to professionalize the sector if only to capture this shortfall in terms of tax revenue. This, not to mention all the guarantees given to the purchaser.
