Residents mostly buy used diesels; their prices discourage the purchase of environmentally friendly cars

“Diesels” dominate, but there is a growing interest in environmentally friendly cars

The results of the research show that the most common in Latvia so far is a car with a diesel engine (62% of respondents use it), and the number of “diesels” has not decreased in recent years, but has increased. In a similar Swedbank survey conducted in 2019, diesel cars were used by 13 percentage points less respondents (49%). It is significant that cars with diesel engines are the most common in the audience of younger respondents (25-34 years). In turn, every third car owner has chosen a petrol engine, while only 2% of hybrid cars.

It should be noted here that sAccording to Swedbank, the popularity of environmentally friendly cars in Latvia is growing every year. Currently, about 7% of all leased passenger vehicles are hybrid or electric cars.

No elektroauto attur is the price

“The results of the study show that electric cars are currently difficult to reach for most Latvians due to their price. At the same time, we see that people are willing to spend more on each new car than on the current one. This shows that the quality of the Latvian car fleet will gradually improve, newer cars with more environmentally friendly engines will enter the market. As the price of electric cars falls and the number of charging stations expands, they will more often come to the attention of potential buyers, as the environmental factor becomes more and more important for people. It should also be taken into account that there is practically no market for used electric cars, which will develop with the increase in the number of these cars. However, in order to facilitate faster fleet replacement, do not do without state support. Given that the transport sector is the second largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Latvia and generates an average of 29% of total emissions, it is clear that without more active state involvement it will not be possible to reduce these indicators.. Therefore, we very much hope for some state support programs for the purchase of such cars in the foreseeable future, ”Comments on the results of the study Sergey Romanuk, Swedbank car finance manager.

The survey data show that in the near future almost every fourth respondent would like to buy a hybrid car (24%), while an electric car – almost every tenth respondent (9%). In turn, 34% of the population plan to buy a car with a diesel engine. It is the owners of diesel cars who most often choose an environmentally friendly car as the next car. The main reason for discouraging the purchase of environmentally friendly cars is related to the relatively high price of such cars (55% of respondents cite this as a reason) and the idea that such a car can be driven only a relatively short distance (34%). About a quarter of the respondents believe that the purchase of electric cars will not be relevant for them in the next 10 years.

At the same time, more than a fifth of respondents (21%) say that when buying a new car, an aspect such as the CO2 emissions of the car will be taken into account. Tax incentives and state support for the purchase of cars are also one of the motivators that could help to decide in favor of purchasing an electric car (mentioned by 27% of respondents).

“For instance, Lithuania and Estonia have specially developed state support programs the purchase of environmentally friendly cars to facilitate faster fleet replacement. In Lithuania, the state provides a subsidy of 2,000 euros for the purchase of a used car and 4,000 euros for the purchase of a new car. Also in Estonia regularly from the state sspecific support programs are being developed and demand far exceeds supply. This also explains why the neighboring countries are ahead of Latvia in this area. It last year with Swedbank starts financing in the Balticsmoustache ripot for 1000 more environmentally friendly cars, most of which were purchased in Estonia (450), followed by Lithuania (375) and Latvia (187), ”Notes Sergey Romanuk.

New car purchase plans

When it comes to replacing a car, more than half of the respondents have admitted that they plan to buy a new car in the next five years. True, the word “new” should be understood here as new to a particular person, because 65% of people are going to buy a used car and more than half do not plan to spend more than 10 thousand euros on it.

The three most important aspects that people take into account when thinking about buying a car are: financial opportunities and savings (62% of respondents mention this as the most important aspect); car price (54%); comfort provided by a new car (37%). The most common source of financing for the purchase of a car is personal savings (49%), followed by car leasing (19%) and a consumer loan or a loan for the purchase of a car (17%).

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