Auto dealers: We are waiting for September 15 and single exchange rate!
Auto dealers will be able to start selling new cars for roubles again after the additional session. But they are bought mainly for dollars at the moment.
“2011 will be a year of dramatic changes in the history of the Belarusian auto market, - noted the head of the board of directors of “Chinese Cars” Syarhei Varyvoda at a press conference. - Physical entities imported 250 thousand cars in the first six months. It is an absolute record. Two billion dollars were exported”.
Auto dealer’s major problem is the access to foreign currency now. The head of the car association “BAA” Syarhei Mihnevich says that the situation may change for the better after the additional session.
Syarhei Mihnevich: “We are waiting for September 16 and the additional session on the stock exchange. We are hoping to get the long-awaited single exchange rate. We are sure that auto dealers will have a good future after the stabilization in the money-market”.
According to Syarhei Mihnevich’s forecast, about 20 thousand new cars will be imported in Belarus, the sales will increase to 30 thousand cars and reach the level of 2008 after the establishment of the single exchange rate. Compare: we imported 12 thousand new cars in the first half of the year and more than half of them were imported by physical entities.
The fact that people have become poorer has affected the car market too.
“Of course the devaluation will affect the population’s capacity to purchase new cars”, - says Syarhei Varyvoda.
Car prices in Belarusian roubles are so high that people prefer using dollars.
“The demand for buying cars with dollars is really high. The prices in Belarusian roubles are inadequate and people are better off buying cars with foreign currency… I think that the need to buy cars with foreign currency will disappear as soon as the exchange rate is stabilized”, - added Alyaksei Krychmar, member of the car association “BAA”.
