Ukraine’s Car Market: New Car Sales, Used Imports and the EV Tax Reset

The Ukraine car market spent 2025 breaking post-invasion records and 2026 adjusting to life after them. New car sales rose 17% last year, used car imports climbed 24%, and a rush to beat the return of VAT on electric vehicles pushed December registrations to a level the country had not seen in more than a decade. The first half of 2026 held steady overall, even as the electric share of new car sales halved. Since July, new car sales have fallen year on year for three months in a row.

We first published this article in November 2025, when activity on Ukrainian listing platforms pointed to a steady rebound. This updated version is rebuilt around official figures from Ukrautoprom (the Association of Automobile Manufacturers of Ukraine), the Automotive Market Research Institute, the State Customs Service and the State Tax Service, with data through September 2026. Below you will find what happened to new car sales in Ukraine, who is still buying, why used car imports set the direction of the market, how the EV tax change pushed buyers toward hybrids, and what it all means if you are buying, selling or running an auto business.

Data note: figures are current through September 2026. Monthly numbers are preliminary, and sources sometimes differ because they count registrations in different ways. The section on reading the data explains why.

Key takeaways

• About 48,600 new passenger cars were sold in Ukraine from January to September 2026, roughly 8% fewer than a year earlier, after three straight months of year-on-year declines since July.
• The VAT exemption for electric cars ended on January 1, 2026. The electric share of new car sales fell from 33% in September 2025 to 9.2% in September 2026.
• Hybrids gained the most: 31% of new car sales and 11% of used imports in September 2026, up from 20.3% and 5% a year earlier.
• Private purchases of new cars fell 16% from January to September 2026, while purchases by companies rose 8%.
• Used imports still drive the market: 274,300 in 2025, more than 77% of all passenger cars added to the fleet, and 21,500 in September 2026, with the United States the largest source.

Ukraine Car Market at a Glance: 2025 vs 2026

The table below compares last year’s headline indicators with the latest 2026 figures. Where possible, each row compares the same period in both years.

Indicator	2025	2026
New passenger cars sold	81,300 for the full year (up 17%); 52,900 in January to September	About 48,600 in January to September (down about 8%)
New passenger cars sold in September	About 6,800	4,881 (down 29%)
Imported used passenger cars	274,300 for the full year (up 24%)	111,500 in January to June; 21,500 in September (down 8%)
Top new car brand	BYD, 10,352 units (full year)	Toyota, almost 4,900 units in January to June (up 6%)
Electric share of new car sales	16.9% in January to June; 33% in September	8.3% in January to June; 9.2% in September
Hybrid share of new car sales	26.5% in January to June; 20.3% in September	29.8% in January to June; 31% in September
Gasoline and diesel share of new car sales	56.5% in January to June; 46.5% in September	Almost 62% in January to June; 59.5% in September
Electric share of used imports	29% in September	18% in September
Hybrid share of used imports	5% in September	11% in September

Sources: Ukrautoprom, as reported by Interfax-Ukraine, UNN, Ukrinform, Dengi.ua and Mezha. Data through September 2026.

The short version: the total market held up in the first half of 2026, then weakened through the summer and into the autumn. The mix changed even more than the volume. Many buyers who would have bought an electric car in 2026 bought one in 2025 instead, hybrids took a larger share than ever, and private buyers pulled back while companies kept buying.

New Car Sales in Ukraine: From a Record December to a Cooler 2026

Ukrainians bought 81,300 new passenger cars in 2025, the strongest year since 2022. BYD finished as the top brand with 10,352 units, narrowly ahead of Toyota with 10,181, and December alone delivered 12,400 new cars, the highest monthly total since March 2014.

That December spike was partly a tax story. Buyers and importers raced to register electric models before VAT returned, so January 2026 opened with new car registrations down by more than half from December, although still 11.6% above January 2025.

Through June, the market held steady: about 33,000 new cars were sold in the first half of 2026, 0.5% more than a year earlier. The weakness arrived in the summer and has not reversed. July sales of 5,754 were 10.5% below July 2025, and August came in at about 5,000, down 27%. New car sales in September 2026 totaled 4,881, which is 29% below September 2025 and 1% below August. That pulled January to September sales to roughly 48,600 units, about 8% behind the same period of 2025.

New car sales in 2026, period by period

Ukrautoprom’s monthly releases show how the year turned. Each change compares the period with the same period of 2025.

Period	New passenger cars sold	Change vs 2025
January to March	15,400	Up 8%
January to June	About 33,000	Up 0.5%
July	5,754	Down 10.5%
August	About 5,000	Down 27%
September	4,881	Down 29%
January to September	About 48,600	Down about 8%

The January to September change is our calculation from Ukrautoprom’s reported totals: about 48,600 cars in 2026 against 52,900 in the same months of 2025.

Which brands and models lead in 2026

Toyota is the top brand of 2026 so far, with almost 4,900 new cars sold in the first half of the year (up 6%), followed by Renault and Skoda. It also led August with 1,092 cars (up 9% year on year), ahead of Skoda with 600 (up 47%) and Renault with 361 (down 32%). Crossovers dominate: they made up 80% of new car sales in the first half of 2026, and the Renault Duster was the best-selling model of the first half, while the Toyota RAV4 topped the July and August charts. By fuel type, September’s best sellers were the Hyundai Tucson among gasoline cars, the Toyota RAV4 among hybrids, the Renault Duster among diesels and the BYD Sea Lion 06 among electric cars.

Chinese brands remain a major force, but their rankings show how quickly a tax rule can reshuffle a market. BYD went from first place in 2025 to fifth in the first half of 2026 and fourth in August. For manufacturers and distributors, it is a clear illustration of the risks companies take when entering new markets on the strength of a single favorable policy.

Who is still buying: households pull back, companies keep buying

The split between private and corporate buyers explains much of the slowdown. Private buyers accounted for 64% of the roughly 48,600 new cars sold from January to September 2026 and companies for 36%, according to Ukrautoprom figures reported by Dengi.ua. Over that period, private purchases fell 16% year on year, while corporate purchases rose 8%.

Private buyers were also the group most exposed to the end of the EV tax break. In 2025 the best-selling new car among private buyers was an electric model, the Volkswagen ID.Unyx. In January to September 2026, private buyers chose the Toyota RAV4 most often, and companies chose the Renault Duster.

For dealers, that makes corporate and fleet sales the steadier channel right now. Selling to a company works differently from selling to a household, because the buyer is a procurement process rather than one person. It pays to group business prospects by industry, size and fleet needs, the same logic behind using firmographic data to segment and score business buyers.

Where new cars are sold

Demand is heavily concentrated in a handful of regions. In January 2026, Kyiv city alone registered 1,571 new passenger cars, about 30% of the national total, and together with the Kyiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Odesa regions it accounted for 59% of new car sales. The Toyota RAV4 led in Kyiv city and the Kharkiv region, the Renault Duster in the Kyiv and Odesa regions, and the BYD Leopard 3 in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Dealers outside these five markets are competing for a much smaller pool of new car buyers.

Used Car Imports: Why They Set the Direction of the Ukraine Car Market

If you want to understand car prices in Ukraine, start with imports. More than 77% of all passenger cars added to the national fleet in 2025 were used vehicles brought in from abroad: 274,300 cars in total, with an average age of 8.4 years. Gasoline models made up 43% of them, electric cars 31%, diesel 18%, hybrids 5% and LPG vehicles 3%.

The five most imported used models in 2025 were:

1. Volkswagen Golf: 12,812 units
2. Tesla Model Y: 10,683 units
3. Tesla Model 3: 9,348 units
4. Renault Megane: 8,379 units
5. Skoda Octavia: 7,754 units

How used car imports changed in 2026

Volumes have eased but not collapsed. Used imports ran between 5% and 13% below 2025 levels in February, March and April, and Ukrautoprom counted 20,600 in August (down 9%) and 21,500 in September (down 8%). The average age of the used cars that received Ukrainian plates in September was 8.7 years.

The fuel mix moved more than the totals. In September 2026, gasoline cars took 52% of used imports (45% a year earlier), electric cars 18% (29%), diesel 16% (18%), hybrids 11% (5%) and LPG cars 3% (3%). The electric share has partly recovered from its spring low of 12% in April, but it remains well below last year’s level.

September’s ten most popular used imports were the Volkswagen Golf (954 units), Volkswagen Tiguan (807), Audi Q5 (658), Skoda Octavia (655), Nissan Rogue (626), Renault Megane (559), Tesla Model Y (512), Nissan Leaf (484), Tesla Model 3 (468) and Volkswagen Passat (409).

Buyers are also favoring practical body styles and, at the top of the market, younger cars. Crossovers made up 53% of used imports in the first two months of 2026. In the first half of the year, cars under five years old accounted for 24% of the 111,500 used imports, and almost half of that younger group was electric or hybrid. The two most popular models in that segment were the Nissan Rogue (1,380 units) and the Tesla Model Y (1,373 units).

Where imported cars come from

The United States is the largest source by a wide margin. State Customs Service data published in July 2026 showed about 169,100 passenger cars imported since January, with 43% arriving from the US, 10% from Germany and 9% from Poland. American imports also skew younger: used cars from the US registered in July 2026 averaged about 5.8 years old, and 30% of them were electric. In money terms, customs data put passenger car imports from January to July 2026 at $2.62 billion, 17% less than a year earlier.

If you are importing a car from the US to Ukraine yourself, it moves like any other international shipment: someone has to book the transport, prepare the documents and coordinate customs clearance, and the charges at each end add up quickly. Our guide to what freight forwarders do and what they bill for explains who handles each step and which responsibilities stay with you.

The EV VAT Change: What Happened to Electric Cars in Ukraine

For several years, electric cars in Ukraine were imported without VAT. That ended on January 1, 2026, when VAT returned under the general rules on both the import and the domestic supply of fully electric vehicles, as confirmed by the State Tax Service of Ukraine. Parliament backed a one-year extension during the 2026 budget debate, but the government rejected it, so the exemption expired on schedule.

What changed, and what did not

The change is narrower than many buyers assume. Only VAT (20%) came back. Import duty on fully electric cars remains at zero, excise is still minimal at about 1 euro per kWh of battery capacity, and EVs remain exempt from the Pension Fund fee on first registration. One detail catches people out: when a dealer sells an EV in Ukraine, VAT applies even if that car was imported tax-free before 2026.

The December rush and the hangover

The deadline triggered a buying wave. Ukraine added 22,800 new and 84,400 used imported electric passenger cars in 2025, more than doubling 2024 in both categories, and December 2025 alone brought more than 32,800 battery electric vehicles, 8.6 times more than a year earlier.

Stanislav Buchatskyi, founder and head of the Automotive Market Research Institute, has pointed out that prices started adjusting as early as summer 2025, once it became clear the exemption would not be extended. Analysts also note that December imports went well beyond real demand, leaving Ukraine’s EV market oversupplied in early 2026. In the first half of the year, electric cars made up 8.3% of new car sales, down from 16.9% a year earlier, and in September the share was 9.2% against 33% in September 2025. In August 2026, used EV imports were 38.9% below August 2025, while domestic EV resales rose 38.2% as Ukrainians traded cars that had already crossed the border.

For buyers, this has opened an unusual window. Many EVs imported before the deadline can change hands, especially in private sales, without VAT built into the price, and older models are losing value faster as newer battery technology arrives.

How Buyer Behavior Shifted in 2025 and 2026

Buyers are moving back toward combustion engines and hybrids. Gasoline and diesel cars took almost 62% of new car sales in the first half of 2026, up from 56.5% a year earlier, and 59.5% in September.

Hybrids are the quiet winner of the tax change

Hybrid cars in Ukraine have gained the most from the end of the EV exemption. Their share of new car sales rose from 26.5% in the first half of 2025 to 29.8% in the first half of 2026, and reached 31% in September, against 20.3% a year earlier. Among used imports, the hybrid share more than doubled, from 5% to 11% in September. The Toyota RAV4, the best-selling hybrid, has also topped the overall new car chart in several months this year.

Hybrids are not the cheap option. State Customs Service data show they were the most expensive category of imported car in the first half of 2026, at an average of almost $27,000 each. Their appeal is lower fuel use without depending on a charger, or with only partial dependence for plug-in hybrids. Power supply is a real factor in Ukraine: reports on January’s drop in EV registrations also pointed to blackouts caused by attacks on the energy system.

The resale market is now the main arena

The resale market inside Ukraine has become the main arena, with domestic resales making up 67% of all vehicle registration operations in July 2026. Commercial vehicles are moving in the opposite direction: in July, registration operations for trucks rose 21.4% and for semi-trailers 31.3% year on year, while passenger cars fell 2.8%.

Buyers research harder before they call

Buyers also research more before they contact a seller. The original November 2025 version of this article cited Zvelta, a car listings aggregator that covers Ukraine, which described shoppers relying on detailed filters, comparing prices across regions and treating VIN checks as standard practice. That fits a market where a wrong purchase is expensive and import histories are hard to read. For dealers and marketers, it is the kind of early signal that trend intelligence is built to capture, because changes in how people search often show up before they appear in sales figures.

How to Read Ukraine Car Market Data, and Why Sources Disagree

If you compare figures across news reports, you will notice that the numbers rarely match exactly. That is usually not an error. Ukraine’s car market is measured by several organizations, and each one counts something slightly different.

• Ukrautoprom publishes monthly totals for new car sales and used imports early in the following month, and rounds many of its headline figures. It is the source most news outlets quote.
• The Automotive Market Research Institute publishes its own first-registration series with model and powertrain detail, using different cut-off dates and definitions. For August 2026, its report on used car imports recorded 21,256 first registrations, while Ukrautoprom reported 20,600. Its series also puts the December 2025 new car peak at 11,287 registrations, against Ukrautoprom’s 12,400 sales.
• The State Customs Service counts cars cleared through customs, new and used together, by number and by value. A car can clear customs weeks before it is registered, so customs totals and registration totals for the same period will not line up.

Three rules keep comparisons honest. Compare figures from the same source across periods. Compare a month with the same month a year earlier rather than with the previous month, because January is always slow and December often spikes. And check whether a figure covers new cars, used imports or both before you draw conclusions from it.

Buying a Used Car in Ukraine: A Practical Checklist

Whether you are looking at a ten-year-old Golf or a two-year-old Tesla, the same six steps protect your money.

1. Compare prices across several sources before you shortlist

Prices for the same model can vary widely by region, country of origin and seller type. A listings aggregator that pulls ads from many dealer and marketplace sites into one place is a quick way to see the range, for example Zvelta’s car search in Ukraine (the interface is in Ukrainian). Note the price spread for your exact model, year and powertrain, and check where the cheapest listings came from, since a recent US auction import and a car first sold in Ukraine can carry very different histories. Cross-check the same model and year on at least one other platform before you contact a seller.

2. Run a VIN check before you see the car

A vehicle history report shows whether a car was sold at auction, written off, flood-damaged or had its mileage altered. This matters most for US imports, the largest group of cars entering Ukraine. Use a US history service for American cars and a European one for cars from the EU, compare the report with the listing, and walk away if key details do not match.

3. Confirm the registration record and legal status

Check the car’s registration data and any restrictions, such as a court-ordered seizure, a pledge or a wanted-vehicle record, through official Ministry of Internal Affairs service center channels. Make sure the VIN in the documents matches the VIN on the car itself.

4. For an EV or hybrid, test the battery as well as the car

Ask for a battery state of health reading from a service that can read that specific model. This matters for hybrids too, now that they make up a growing share of imports. For an EV, also find out whether the car was imported before or after January 1, 2026. If you buy from a dealer, VAT is part of the price regardless of when the car arrived.

5. Book an independent inspection and budget for extras

Choose the service station yourself rather than using one the seller recommends. Set aside 10% to 15% of your budget for registration, mandatory motor third-party liability insurance and early repairs.

6. Complete the sale officially

Sign the purchase agreement at a Ministry of Internal Affairs service center or with a notary, and register the car in your name. An informal handover leaves you exposed if a lien or hidden history surfaces later.

What the Data Means for Dealers, Importers and Auto Businesses

A cooler new car market rewards businesses that plan with data instead of momentum. The latest numbers point to four practical moves.

Stock for the mix buyers are choosing now. Gasoline and hybrid crossovers are gaining share in both the new and used segments, and hybrids reached 31% of new car sales in September. Inventory planned around the 2025 EV boom risks tying up cash.

Treat companies as a core segment. Corporate purchases of new cars rose 8% from January to September while private purchases fell 16%. Fleet offers, service packages and a dedicated business contact can matter more this year than another consumer promotion.

Win the research phase. Shoppers compare listings, histories and regional prices before they ever call. The dealers who get those calls publish complete listings, show VIN data upfront and follow a digital marketing strategy that drives revenue instead of spreading budget across disconnected ads. Our playbook of automotive marketing strategies to sell more vehicles covers the inventory pages, local search and fast follow-up that turn that research into appointments.

Get more out of every vehicle. Rental operators and small businesses renewing fleets face the same import and VAT math as private buyers, plus the pressure to keep each car earning. A modern car rental booking system that manages availability, pricing and turnaround in one place helps protect margins when replacement costs are high.

Ukraine Car Market Outlook: What to Watch Next

Taken together, the data tells two different stories. The EV tax change reshaped what Ukrainians buy, but it did not shrink the new car market in the first half of 2026. The decline since July is a separate signal: three consecutive months of year-on-year falls, concentrated among private buyers. Even so, used imports held at about 20,600 to 21,500 cars a month in August and September, not far from last year’s pace.

Here is what to watch in the coming months:

• Tough comparisons in the fourth quarter. Ukrainians bought about 28,400 new cars from October to December 2025 (the 81,300 annual total minus 52,900 through September), roughly 9,500 a month, inflated by the rush to beat the EV tax deadline. At the current pace of under 5,000 a month, year-on-year declines in late 2026 will look severe even if demand simply holds steady, so read month-on-month trends alongside them.
• Used EV imports. The electric share of used imports climbed from 12% in April to 18% in September. The National Bank of Ukraine expected EV imports to dip in 2026 and recover gradually toward the end of the year, so the next few months will show whether that recovery holds.
• Exchange rates and security conditions, which analysts already connect to regional sales declines. For foreign importers and dealers, currency rules matter as much as the rate itself, from 180-day settlement deadlines to the limits on sending profit abroad, which we cover in our guide to doing business in Ukraine.
• Pricing and new models from Toyota, Skoda and Chinese brands competing for the same crossover buyers.
• Tax policy. In spring 2026 an MP floated a monthly levy of up to UAH 4,000 for owners of electric cars priced around $30,000, but the head of parliament’s finance committee said no new tax on EV owners was being considered. A road charge or battery-based fee would change the cost of owning an EV, so watch for formal bills rather than statements.

If you are buying, the coming months favor patient shoppers who compare widely and verify everything. If you are selling or importing, they favor businesses that follow the numbers month by month.

Questions About New Car Sales, Used Imports and EV Tax in Ukraine

How We Sourced This Article

Figures in this article come from Ukrautoprom’s monthly releases as reported by Interfax-Ukraine, Ukrinform, UNN, Dengi.ua, Kurs Ukrainy, Mezha, Komersant Ukrainian and other Ukrainian news outlets, from the Automotive Market Research Institute, and from Ukraine’s State Customs Service and State Tax Service. The January to September year-on-year comparison and the fourth-quarter 2025 total are our own calculations from Ukrautoprom’s reported figures. Zvelta is referenced as an example of a car listings aggregator, and its observations on buyer behavior are attributed to the platform. Growwwth has no commercial relationship with Zvelta. Data is current through September 2026.

Infographic

A visual overview of Ukraine’s changing auto market in 2026, including new car demand, the continued role of used imports, the EV VAT reset, leading brands, buyer priorities, and the key trends shaping future vehicle demand.