The FINANCIAL — 50,000 vehicles were sold in total in 2011 at Rustavi Autobazroba, the largest car market complex in the South Caucasus. More than 50% of the market’s clients come from Azerbaijan and Armenia.
The FINANCIAL — 50,000 vehicles were sold in total in 2011 at Rustavi Autobazroba, the largest car market complex in the South Caucasus. More than 50% of the market’s clients come from Azerbaijan and Armenia.
This year the complex attracted new customers from Kyrgyzstan. This country replaced Kazakhstan, where due to an increase of import taxes buyers have switched to another market. In 2012 the prices of used cars have dropped in comparison to previous years.
“At weekends the number of cars for sale reaches 3,000 units. Spring and Autumn are the best seasons for sales,” Ekaterina Tkachenko, Head of the Marketing Department at Rustavi Autobazroba, told The FINANCIAL.
“The number of customers from Azerbaijan and Armenia is more than 50%. The Mercedes E-class 2002 model is the most popular car with Azerbaijani buyers. Mercedes is also popular with Armenian buyers, but on the whole they prefer cheaper models, those below 8,000 USD,” she said.
The most popular models of car among Georgians are the Opel Vectra, Opel Astra, and Mercedes Benz E-class.
“In January-April 2012 the major export commodity was motor cars, amounting to 154,346.8 thousand USD, which is 21.2% of total export,” according to the National Statistics Office of Georgia, Geostat. In the list of top export commodities motor cars is followed by ferroalloys and nuts.
The share of import of motor cars amounted to 211,783.6 thousand USD, 8.8% of the total amount of commodities imported. It is the second largest import commodity after oil and petroleum.
The cars that are imported in Georgia are mainly from Germany, the United States and Japan.
External Merchandise Trade (excluding non-organized trade) of Georgia amounted to 3,124 million USD in January-April 2012, up 18% from the same period of the previous year. Compared to January-April 2011, the volume of export grew by 11% and reached 726 million USD, while import increased by 20% amounting to 2,397 million USD. The trade deficit reached 1,671 million USD and amounted to 53% of the total trade turnover.
In the first quarter of 2012 the top trading partners of Georgia by import were: Turkey, Germany, Azerbaijan, China, Ukraine, Russia, Japan, Bulgaria, the US and Italy.
The top trading partners by export during the same period of data were: Azerbaijan, Armenia, Turkey, Ukraine, the US, Bulgaria, Canada, Italy, Germany and Belgium.
The bestselling car models at Rustavi Autobazroba are: Opel Vectra, Opel Astra, Mercedes Benz E-class, Mercedes Benz C-class, Volkswagen Golf, BMW 5 series, BMW 3 series, Mitsubishi Pajero, Opel Omega, and the Volswagen Passat.
“2011 netted the highest volume of sales for Rustavi Autobazroba. We sold over 50,000 units. Prices in 2012 have decreased in comparison to 2010 and 2011,” Tkachenko said.
“The majority of our customers are male. This year we served many clients from Kyrgyzstan. Georgian auto dealers enhance the possibilities of transporting cars and thereby help potential customers to purchase their desired vehicles,” she added.
“Prices of cars were higher in 2011. The majority of buyers were Kazakhs. At present prices have dropped but the sales volume is not high,” Tkachenko said.
Rustavi Autobazroba, the largest car market complex in the South Caucasus, is located on the Rustavi highway. It incorporates several markets, the auto-centre, as well as auto services.
The first market was opened in December. Its total area is 250 thousand square meters and is designed for 5,000 cars. Ukrainian Private Group invested 25 million USD in it, while the overall project was estimated at 40 million USD. The market’s territory is under the ownership of Ukrainian businessman Eugene Ustinov.
The market area is divided into zones, including a customs control zone. It is equipped with fast-food outlets, service centres, maintenance facilities, warehouses, office space and other additional services.
In summer 2011 another market was opened on the premises of the Rustavi Autobazroba – the Caucasian Autocenter by Iberia Business Group, which invested 4 million GEL in this project.
Another large auto-market was opened by the daughter company of Bank of Georgia, SB Real Estate.
The sales turnover of auto dealers in 2010, with the exclusion of retail sellers, amounted to 653.5 million GEL. During the first three quarters of 2011 this amount was 467.5 million GEL.
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