In May, Uzbeks bought 156,000 cars, Spot reports citing the Center for Economic Research and Reform (CERR).

Of these, 140,000 were passenger cars, which is 16% more than a month earlier. In turn, sales in April (120.7 thousand) increased by almost 9% compared to March.

After a decline in February-March, activity in the car market has been growing for the second month. For comparison, in the previous two years, demand peaked in April, but declined slightly in May.

The most significant sales growth was in Tashkent (+37%). In addition, experts noted an increase in demand in Andijan and Bukhara regions (+19%).

Sales in the primary car market broke the decline in April, when 22,000 new cars were sold in a month. In May, sales increased by another third, reaching a record 30,000, which is 32% more than last May and 92% more than the same month in 2021.

Among the reasons for the growth of the primary market, CERR singled out pent-up demand. Activity rose, among other things, due to the launch of contracting for new Chevrolet Onix and Tracker variants, offsetting the effect of the suspension of sales in early May.

The used car segment has also noticeably intensified. Approximately 98 thousand cars were sold in April, or 10% more than in March, and in May the number of sales increased by another 11.9% to 107.7 thousand.

Separately, analysts highlighted the continued rapid growth in demand for electric vehicles. In April, Uzbeks purchased almost 1,500 units of electric vehicles, exceeding the level of March by 1.5 times. Sales in May reached 1,900 vehicles, 28% more than the previous month.