The new car market in 2025: growth in online sales and changing buyer behavior

      A representative of the industry spoke about key trends and the transformation of the car market as part of the annual industry awards.

      Price preferences and demand

      Buyers show the greatest interest in cars priced at 2–3 million rubles — this category accounts for 31.5% of all inquiries.

      Budget-segment models (1–2 million rubles) make up 27% of listings, and demand for them showed the largest increase — up 3.9 percentage points.

      The share of the premium segment (3–5.5 million rubles) remains significant — 24.2% of user interest.

      In the used-car market, consumers still mainly choose inexpensive models up to 2 million rubles: their combined share is stable and reaches 87%. Within this segment, interest in cars priced at 1–2 million rubles rose by 1 percentage point.

      Digitalization as a market driver

      Digitalization continues to change the behavior of both buyers and sellers. A clear example is the active shift of communications to messengers and chats: by autumn 2025, such interactions accounted for 66% (an increase of 8 percentage points since the beginning of 2024).

      The growing number of professional market representatives on online platforms confirms this trend: the number of dealer accounts increased by 22.5%, and professional sellers by 4%.

      According to industry research, 66% of new-car buyers and 73% of used-car buyers found their car online. Respondents cited the following key advantages of online purchasing:

      - attractive price offers (54%);

      - a simple and clear search and purchase process (42%);

      - convenience (41%) and reliability (34%) of interacting with platforms;

      - the desire to complete the deal as quickly as possible (25%).

      At the same time, 34% of respondents are willing to buy a car from another city, and half of respondents would use online platforms with delivery options if they are confident in the car’s reliability.

      New buyer behavior patterns

      Analysts also note a shift in consumer habits. Among young people (20–29 years old), there are 5 percentage points more who did not know in advance which specific model they would buy (up to 19%).

      Similarly, the share of those who initially planned to buy one model but ended up choosing another has increased.

      Demand for transparency and convenience

      “One of the defining trends is a growing demand for transaction transparency and convenience. We see that interest in cars from verified catalogs, where vehicles from reliable partners are presented, has doubled, and the number of such offers has increased by 1.5 times.

      For us, these are not just numbers — they confirm that both buyers and sellers choose safety and a positive customer experience. We are in a phase of conceptual market change: there is a shift from brand loyalty to loyalty to experience. Buyers less and less often ask, ‘Which brand of cars do you sell?’; they are interested in how quickly, transparently and safely they can buy a car,” the portal volga.news cites a representative of the “New Cars” division.