The market for new buses in Ukraine (except minibuses) in 2023 grew by 62%, or by 360 units, compared to 2022, up to 940 units, said Vadym Shkarupin, director of Etalon Auto Trading House.

“This is our internal analysis, we did not rely on any statistical data, but we see that the market for new buses is growing,” he said at a press conference at the Interfax-Ukraine agency in Kyiv on Wednesday.

According to Shkarupin, the largest share in sales was occupied by Ataman buses produced by Cherkasy Bus - 450 units, or 48%, Etalon ranked second with the sale of 300 buses (32%), ZAZ ranked third with 115 buses (12%).

Next come the Turkish Otocar and Temsa (20 cars each and 2% of the market), the Ukrainian Bogdan with 15 buses. The remaining manufacturers sold 20 buses.

At the same time, sales of Ataman buses increased by 66% compared to 2022, Etalon by 55%, ZAZ by 1.9 times.

“Despite the seemingly unimpressive sales of Turkish Temsa, the growth dynamics are 1000%. If this dynamics continues next year, then Temsa will have half of the market,” says Shkarupin.

The majority of buses sold, taking into account the fact that 70% are school buses, are small class.

“The structure of the market has not changed for many years - 90% are government purchases (including 70% from schools, the rest are purchases by cities) and 10% are commercial purchases,” said the director of the trading house.

According to his approximate data, the secondary bus market grew by 43%.

“According to our estimates, the purchase of used cars amounts to more than 700 units. That is, in the overall market structure, about 55% are new buses and about 45% are used,” he noted.

Shkarupin also analyzed the market for trucks (excluding converted cars), which is expected to amount to 11,000 units in 2023 (60% more than in 2022).

Moreover, if in the segment of new trucks with a gross weight of 3.6-8 tonnes the sales increase was 52%, then in the segment of 8.1-16 tonnes - 93%.

“This is due, first of all, to the fact that most logistics have moved from air and the Black Sea to the delivery of goods by wheeled transport and trucks from Europe,” he concluded.

The market for used trucks, according to Shkarupin, in 2023 decreased to 36,000 units compared to 47,000 in 2022.

“But in the overall structure of the market, the situation is sad – 77% are used cars and only 23% are new,” he emphasized.

“And returning to Yulia Svyrydenko’s speech on December 20, we see that there are certain actions by the government, because the sales dynamics of Ukrainian manufacturers are positive, but there are certain points that are very alarming,” added Shkarupin.

In particular, in the bus auction announced in 2023, some 24 Turkish Temsa buses were purchased for almost UAH 118 million.

“That is, the average cost of one is UAH 4.9 million, while we offered for UAH 3.2 million. That is, for this amount it was possible to purchase 51% more buses, or 36 units,” he noted.

At the same time, Shkarupin again emphasized the insufficient control over the level of localization declared by foreign manufacturers at tenders - the same Temsa indicates almost 35%.

“The new philosophy of supporting the Ukrainian manufacturer, declared by the government, is good, but it must be treated with caution. And if the state proclaimed - let’s return to the domestic manufacturer, then in a year we will tell you at our next press conference what happened from the point of view new philosophy,” summed up Volodymyr Butko, president of Etalon Corporation.