The prices of vehicles, whether new or used, experiencing an outbreak unprecedented in Algeria.
In litigation: the suspension of the importation of new cars in 2017 and the closure in 2020 of vehicle assemblers in the country.
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For more than five years, the Algerian car market has been under great stress. The imbalance between supply and demand is flagrant. This situation translates into a spectacular increase in the prices of all vehicles.
The prices shown are beyond all comprehension. In Algeria, the car has become a luxury item, inaccessible even to middle-income citizens.
Zoom on currently displayed prices
A quick tour of specialized sales sites and social networks is enough to see the extent of the sky-high prices of vehicles offered for sale on the Algerian market.
On the new car side, one of the cheapest vehicles on sale right now is the 2022 Chery QQ, produced by Chinese automaker Chery Automobile. This small city car is offered by a dealer based in Algiers at a price of 2.05 million dinars.
In the category of mini city cars, on the Ouedkniss sales site, a Kia Picanto LX 2022, with a gasoline engine, is offered at 4.15 million dinars, while the price shown for a Suzuki Swift 2022, with a box automatic transmission, is 3.4 million dinars.
In this price range, a multi-brand dealership, located in Algiers, offers a Fiat Panda 2022, with automatic transmission and gasoline engine, at the price “ negotiable ” for 3.35 million dinars, a Citroën C Elysée 2022 at the price of 4.4 million dinars, and a Dacia Sandero 2022 Stepway at the price “ fixed of 3.85 million dinars, almost 200 times the guaranteed minimum wage (Smig) which is 20,000 dinars.
German cars for the rich.
These are the rare new car models that are offered for sale for less than five million dinars.
In general, the selling prices of all new home ranges are extremely high.
If we refer to the prices shown in Ouedkniss, to get a Skoda Fabia 2022, gasoline engine and automatic transmission, no less than 5.5 million dinars are needed.
For a Peugeot Rifter 2022 it will be necessary to spend no less than 6.3 million dinars, while the 3008 model of the same brand is offered for the trifle of 7 million dinars.
As for German cars, and specifically those of the Audi brand, the cheapest models, year 2022, are offered at 7.2 million dinars. At this price it is possible to get an Audi A1 S Line 2022.
For the higher ranges of the same brand, the price of new equipment exceeds one billion cents (10 million dinars). A dealership based in Hydra, on the heights of Algiers, offers an Audi Q3 2022 S Line at the price ” negotiable 14 million dinars.
Another, located in the west of the country, has meanwhile put up for sale in Ouedkniss an Audi A4 2022 S Line at a price of 13.8 million DA and an Audi (from the sport range) RS3 2022 Carbon at a record price of 30 million dinars.
Always in the category of German cars, it should be noted that the prices displayed for the Volkswagen Polo 200 R-Line range between 7 and 7.5 million dinars, and that those displayed for the Volkswagen New Tiguan 2022 R-Line, with automatic transmission and diesel engine, exceed 13 million DA.
One thing is certain, few Algerians can pay such sums. For many of them, buying a new car has become an almost impossible task.