The restriction regarding the non-marketing of second-hand vehicles at a price higher than the current sales price recommended by the manufacturer or distributor will come into effect tomorrow.
According to the compilation made by the AA correspondent, the Ministry of Commerce has taken successive steps in the last period within the scope of combating stocking, exorbitant price practices and speculative price increases in the automotive sector. The Ministry intensified its inspections as well as the measures it took.
The Ministry of Commerce amended the Regulation on the Trade of Second-Hand Motor Vehicles on 6 July, restricting the marketing of second-hand vehicles through advertisements at a price higher than the current sales price recommended by the manufacturer or distributor, until January 1, 2024. This application, which will come into effect as of tomorrow, will cover individual and commercial advertisements of all real and legal persons.
According to the regulation, within the scope of this restriction, all real and legal persons will be warned by the “advertising platforms” if they post advertisements contrary to the regulation. Despite this warning, information regarding those who place advertisements in violation of the said restriction will be forwarded to the Ministry by the platform.
In this context, each advertisement contrary to the regulation will be considered as “second-hand motor land vehicle trade”, and an administrative fine of up to ₺300 thousand will be applied to those who place the advertisements.
Therefore, in order to avoid any administrative fines, it is important to determine the price in the vehicle advertisements that will be published and published in a way that does not exceed the current recommended sales price.
Notaries block the sales
On the other hand, the Ministry extended the implementation period of 6 months and 6 thousand kilometers marketing and sales restrictions until January 1, 2024, and also restricted the sales of vehicles contrary to this regulation.
In this context, notary public offices started to prevent sales of all real and legal persons who sell at least 3 second-hand motor land vehicles without a license in 2023, in violation of the 6-month 6,000-kilometer regulation, as well as those who sell with a license to trade second-hand motor vehicles.
While the Ministry also identified individual and corporate sellers who sold more than 3 second-hand motor vehicles in 2023 without a certificate of authorization, these sellers, whose number is 4 thousand 800, were asked to defend the said sales. Fines against these people may be on the agenda in the future.
The Ministry will continue extensive and intensive inspections on the subject throughout the country.
₺75.2 million fines have been imposed on hoarding activities so far
On the other hand, an administrative fine of ₺35 million 110 thousand 527 has been imposed on businesses that set up transactions contrary to the marketing and sales restrictions. Within the scope of stocking practices, an administrative fine of ₺8 million 292 thousand 360 was imposed on 15 authorized dealers in 2021 and 2022, and an administrative fine of ₺17 million 834 thousand 400 was imposed on 4 authorized dealers in May, who were found to be in practices that made it difficult for consumers to access zero kilometer vehicles.
In June, it was decided to impose an administrative fine of ₺49 million 44 thousand 600 on 10 authorized dealers, who were found to be demanding a price above the list price of the vehicle or forcing customers to buy accessories. The second hand motor land vehicle trade authorization certificates of 4 authorized dealers, which were subject to administrative fines, were also revoked. As a result of the inspections carried out against hoarding activities, an administrative fine of ₺75 million 171 thousand 360 has been imposed by the Unfair Price Evaluation Board so far.
Minister Bolat warned the sellers
As soon as the Minister of Commerce Omer Bolat took office, he had meetings with the representatives of the automotive sector and ensured that new measures were taken regarding the issue.
Bolat, in his statement, stated that the advertisement sites were warned not to put a second-hand price higher than the new vehicle price as of July 15, and said that they would ensure stability in the market in a few weeks, that they had other instruments in their hands, and that they were advancing step by step.
Motor Vehicle Dealers Federation (MASFED) Chairman Aydin Erkoc pointed out that the markets started to relax after the regulations and inspections regarding the vehicle sales market, “Previously, our citizens could not find a vehicle when they went to the dealership. Now the dealers started looking for the citizens. We’re seeing this manipulation foam disappear a bit. When a new vehicle is found, second-hand prices will naturally decrease.”
Source: AA / Prepared by Irem Yildiz