Second-hand cars witness good demand this festive season; hatchbacks top choice

New Delhi: With the festive seasons around the corner, Indian auto enthusiasts are showing a lot of interest in the pre-owned cars with hatchbacks being more in demand since the budgets have declined, an OLX study said.

61 percent car buyers plan to buy a pre-owned car this festive season while 56 percent of them planning to purchase a hatchback. This festive season Indians are preferring to buy hatchback cars as their budgets have declined according to OLX Autos India Study.

OLX conducted a study with 5800 car buyers and sellers during August-October 2020. 61 percent people plan to buy a car in the next 3-6 months while 15 percent are interested in selling their existing cars.

Among the buying enthusiasts, 51 percent were salaried employees, while 40 percent were either self-employed or had their own business.

The OLX study concluded that economic uncertainty with the working population has led to a shift in the preference for pre-owned cars.

56 percent people would prefer to buy a hatchback car while 44 percent expressed an interest in buying a larger car. 17 percent would prefer to buy a sedan and 11 percent would prefer to buy an SUV, the study found.

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The study said that constrained budgets will guide consumer spends on cars. 63 percent had a budget of only up to Rs 3 lakh for a car, while only 30 percent respondents said that they were willing to spend over Rs 3 lakh for buying a car. 67 percent people said they would buy a used car to move around with their families and 22 percent said that they would prefer to buy a pre-owned car for their daily office commute.

15 percent respondents plan to sell their existing cars while 53 percent plan to upgrade their cars or buy another car and 23 percent plan to do so to meet their financial needs. 12 percent are selling their spare car.

 “Customers are getting attracted towards pre-owned cars as it is offering the best value realization to these consumers at a time when their incomes have been impacted. Post the unlock, demand for pre-owned cars have shot up 133% while supply is up by 112% on OLX as we head into the festive season. India’s pre-owned car dealers have about 60% of unsold inventory which they will aim to liquidate during the festive season,” Amit Kumar, Head, OLX Autos India, said.