To meet the growing demand for new and little-used cars, Toyota a Lexus official distributor in Latvia and Estonia Amserv Motors bank Citadel has invested EUR 2 million in the purchase of vehicles, with a special focus on hybrid and electric cars.
“Our industry has suffered significantly in a pandemic, but as vaccination rates increase and restrictions ease, buyers and markets begin to recover. We are seeing a growing interest in both the new and used car sales segment, ”says Amserv Group financial director Tonu Vanajūrs.
“Interest in more environmentally friendly cars is growing every year, which is reflected in both sales figures and daily communication from individuals and corporate customers. We can already see that the hybrid and electric car class is purposefully making its breakthrough and moving away from internal combustion engine cars, so this segment will continue to be one of our main directions of development. The potential of this car class is evidenced by the fact that as the number of cars sold decreased due to the pandemic, the electric car category experienced the smallest decline, ”reveals Amserv Group representative.
There is a steadily growing trend in the hybrid car segment – more and more customers in both Latvia and Estonia are showing interest in this type of car. 31% of new car sales in 2020 Amserv Motors customers in Latvia have chosen to buy a hybrid car, while a year earlier this share was less than 28%. In Estonia, this market is even more active – 38.5% decided to buy a hybrid car last year Amserv customer.
“The car market is changing significantly, and the financing of stocks by the bank is an important support. Economical, little-used and environmentally friendly cars – these three criteria characterize buyers’ choices, which is also reflected in the car leasing market data – the share of little-used cars has increased during the pandemic, as well as the demand for electric cars has been growing steadily. Entrepreneurs are the most interested in buying an electric car, while for households the electric car is most often the second car in the family. Unlike in Estonia, where state subsidies are available for the purchase of electric cars, in Latvia the financial instruments or leasing offered by banks are the only way to reduce the initial costs for the purchase of electric cars, ”says Mārtiņš Bočkāns, Citadels Head of Corporate Customer Service.
“In both countries – Latvia and Estonia – there is also an increase in demand for little-used cars that are economical and under three years of age. We explain this with the desire of people to avoid moving in public transport as much as possible during a pandemic, “says T. Vanajūrs.
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