Passenger Car Market

The automotive sector in Greece is currently under the process of consolidation and debt restructuring. Exclusive importers and dealers are facing significant financing constraints and are seeking other ways to develop their business like spare parts trading which shows significant higher margins than auto imports and car dealing.

The passenger car market was in a bubble state during the period 2004 – 2008 when registrations reached in average to 275k per year. In 2016, registrations had decreased by 73% from 2004 (significantly more than other countries in Europe). This indicates that potential upside can be higher than the macroeconomics improvement. However, a return to the previous bubble market should be considered as unlikely. Deloitte’s view is that the market could reach to c. 120k registrations in 2021.

Overall, the market remains underdeveloped and the car ownership levels are lower than in most of the EU countries, while constant taxation changes create an unstable market environment. In spite of the above, the car remains on top of customer’s priorities and this is a key factor driving the market upwards.