Moroccan Used Car Market in Crisis: Automakers’ Price Hikes Threaten Local Dealers

This summer, the used car markets in Morocco are recording a rise in prices compared to previous periods. According to merchants in Salé-Kénitra, the current increase in prices in the used car market is mainly due to the "rise in prices by automotive companies". "The current situation threatens the used car markets in Morocco," worries a used car dealer in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region to Hespress. According to his explanations, automotive companies are raising prices and actively trying to take over the used car market, offering many features and offers to sell old cars.

"This situation is pushing sellers in the used car markets to directly increase prices, although the current reality shows a migration of customers towards the companies," he added, lamenting that the uniform increase in prices and the monopolization of the characteristics specific to the used car market are a practice leading to the disappearance of the latter. The situation of the used car market in Morocco during the summer season, marked by a significant rise in prices, "clearly reflects the worsening of the monopoly problem by certain companies that dominate the sector," analyzes economic expert Omar Kettani. According to him, these companies "take charge of all the stages of the supply and marketing chain alone, which leads to setting prices in a unilateral and collective manner, and in an integrated way that often serves only their interests."

The expert explains: this situation also shows "the absence of an effective social policy to protect the consumer, as there are not enough regulatory mechanisms to guarantee transparency and equal opportunities in the market." And to continue: "As a result, the consumer is deprived of the freedom of choice and his natural right to consume products in line with his purchasing power, whether in winter or summer."