Quoting data from the traffic police and car importers in Bulgaria, the BGNES Agency has reported these days that a change in the attitude of Bulgarian citizens towards the purchase of a new car has occurred.

This is still happening at a slow pace and when it comes to the ratio of new to used cars per capita, Bulgaria is one of the last in European charts. Last year, 43 368 new and 226 657 used cars were registered and 41% of the vehicles in this country are over 20 years old.

Currently, however, importer companies offer much more flexible options for buying a new car. Interest rates are low and a new car can be leased with a down payment of just 10%. In recent years, the use of so-called operating leases has increased, with the car being leased over the long term against monthly installments without a down payment. In fact, this is a service, not a lease, at the end of which the customer does not acquire ownership of the car. In most cases, users of this service do not acquire ownership because they take advantage of the opportunity to replace the car. Last year about 30% of new car sales were under this scheme.

Importers, however, are firm that electric cars are the future. The new models have a range of up to 340 km, which in urban conditions could hardly be exceeded in a day. An option is also considered, in which the lease includes the right to use a non-electric replacement car for 20 days so that the client could undertake trips to places with no charging stations.

Importers, however, also expect the state to take some steps to encourage the purchase of new and environmentally-friendly vehicles. They mainly refer to the provision of tax incentives and forms of co-financing, which are common practices even in neighboring countries. In Romania, for example, eco-vignettes are being introduced, and in order to stimulate the purchase of new cars, the state gives the owner of an old polluting car about EUR 1,800 in subsidies to scrap it. There are no such incentives in Bulgaria, but car importers are convinced that work in this direction was necessary.

Editor: Stoimen Pavlov

English: Alexander Markov