Used car auction bid rate falls for 5 consecutive months, market enters crunch

*This content was translated by AI.

Recently, the successful bid rate, which represents the success rate of transactions in the used car auction market, has been sharply downward since the end of 2025, indicating that the market cooling period has been deepening. Based on domestic used car auction data such as Glovis and K Car, the used car auction market has entered a contraction phase, continuing to lower its low point without showing a clear recovery after the wall of the 60% winning rate collapsed. For reference, the auction success rate is considered to be a meter that measures the crunch in the used car market. Usually, it is a time when the successful bid rate rises from February to March.

Looking at the specific monthly trend, the average successful bid rate in November 2025 was 60.6%, the last time it maintained a stable trading flow. However, in December, the successful bid rate plunged 4.4 percentage points from the previous month to 56.2 percent, falling to the 50 percent level. This is interpreted as a result of immediate reflection of concerns about weak buying sentiment and falling asset values due to the usual year-end changes in the market. In particular, around this time, the Russian government raised and applied a tax reform for high-horsepower cars over 160 horsepower, and the number of exports of the vehicle level decreased significantly, leading to a contraction in purchases. In January and February 2026, the successful bid rate was 56.7%, respectively, which seemed to form a low-point box at a similar level to the previous month, but it was not enough to regain the vitality of the market.

The most worrisome point is the index for March 2026. The average successful bid rate fell to 52.9 percent in March, a new low during the analysis period. In particular, in the third week of March, the weekly successful bid rate fell to 49.4%, and the psychological Maginot Line of 50% was even seen collapsing. This is the result of the 7.7%p evaporation of the successful bid rate in just five months compared to November 2025. Although the number of entries also fell from 39,980 units in November 2025 to 31,812 units in March 2026, the fact that the winning bid rate fell together suggests that the contraction in demand is much steeper than the decline in supply.

In conclusion, the current used car auction market remains in a downward stabilization stage where buying has slowed to an extreme degree. The current successful bid rate compared to the high point that was formed in the third quarter of 2025 is far below market expectations, and it is difficult to find any signs of a rebound despite the timing of entering the peak season in spring. As consumers are cautious about buying vehicles, the portion of the bid is increasing, and if this trend is prolonged, it is likely to lead to a recession throughout the distribution of used cars, so market monitoring is urgently needed.

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*This content was translated by AI.