51% depreciation a year: your new car is shrinking at a rate you can't imagine
A biadi dolphin depreciated more than half in its first year. This is not an extreme case — at a time when “new cars are faster than mobile phones”, ordinary users contract their assets much faster than most people think。
You know, data from the china association for car circulation show that the average cycle of change for conventional fuel vehicles is six to eight years, while new energy vehicles cut directly by half, with only three to five years left. Even more brutal is the fact that the fuel truck itself is also avalanche: in may of this year, the average residual value of three-year-old fuel trucks has fallen to 38. 2 per cent, which means an average annual devaluation of about 19 per cent。
3-year residual value and industry average of selected high-value fuel vehicles
However, the rate of devaluation of new energy vehicles is two to three times that figure。
Don't worry about the fuel truck. Your car's in avalanche
Look first at the fuel truck. Data from the united nations international federation of associations show that, in may 2026, the average traded price of second-hand fuel truck fell by 18. 7 per cent in comparison with the same year. Shell finances reported an average residual value of only 38. 2 per cent for three years, a sharp drop of 21 percentage points from 2023。
In terms of the type of car, the difference is alarming. A classic version of the daily life cycle, with a guide price of $799,000, a terminal fare of more than 50,000, with a direct discount of 60 per cent for a year of age and a daily loss of nearly $100. The luxury brand, which once had a high premium, was no better — 2023 adi a6l, which landed at $420,000 that year, now has a new car with a reference price of 310,000, with depreciation of nearly 50 per cent over three years。
There are exceptions. The hot-door model remains “hard currency”. Tanks 300, mass golf, honda flight, with a residual value of over ** 60 per cent for three years. The data on second-hand melon cars show that a premium of about 10 per cent** is available on the c2c platform for high-quality fuel vehicles at higher prices than traditional channels。
Second-hand fuel car was sold in may to top 10 and 3-year residual value ratio
The "moor law" of the tram is devalued, the machine is before the battery
The devaluation logic of the new energy vehicle is completely different, not linear, but a “mol-law” model — value collapse caused by technology。
Pure electric cars are the worst-hit areas. Biadi gulls have a one-year preservation rate of 53. 5 per cent and dolphins only 48. 9 per cent - that means more than half a year. Tesla model 3 low-mile used vehicles, which depreciated by between $800,000 and $100,000 compared to new vehicles, with a depreciation rate of about 32 per cent to 40 per cent, have been removed from the “fixing pole”。
But it is extremely polarized. Ideally i6 is a reverse - low-mile used vehicles depreciated by between $30,000 and $40,000 compared to new vehicles, with a depreciation rate of between 15 and 20 per cent, well above normal industry levels. Data on second-hand melon cars also show that some of the new brands are dynamic in the market, with prices increasing by more than **5 per cent.**。
Pure trams lined up in may compared to april
Why is the devaluation so fast? In the first 11 months of 2025, the number of old and new car disputes increased by 82 times, to 393,000. The polar krypton 001 came on the market only five months ago, and m7 was only eight months later。
L90 is even more exaggerating — 2025 cars are brought on the market for 19 days, and laser radars, smart air hangers are decentralized to full-line labels at no change in the price of the sale, with the old-age residual value shrinking overnight。
A key background: 544 new vehicles were listed in the first five months of 2026, and the r & d cycle has been reduced from 60 months in the traditional fuel car age to 24 months. The vehicle-type life cycle has been reduced from three to five years to six to eight months now. Car companies frequently change funds and decentralize their configurations, and old cars are directly “capitalized” in the eyes of second-hand car dealers。
So, is it "never buying" or "never buying"
Users' perception of “fast-out” vehicles has profoundly changed the pricing of used car markets. It is feared that 300,000 cars will be bought today, possibly worth 200,000 in six months。
As a result, there is a phenomenon in the market of “bad currency expelling good currency”: slow technology and high preservation models are preferred, while the valuation of frequently modified brands continues to decline. For example, according to the report on the preservation rate of chinese automobiles in guangya honda, its three-year preservation rate is 57. 42 per cent, and yakoto has been the champion of the medium-size car retention rate for four years in a row - consumers are willing to pay a premium for asset stability。
It is a story of numbers, but behind it is the question of choice. Buying cars is moving from “buy experience” to “buy assets”. Cadillac has introduced a three-year buy-back policy, essentially aimed at targeting residual values against uncertainty by using official cover. But there are few brands that can do this。
The brand speaker introduced the drive-down security policy
So back to the original question: what would be the extent to which ordinary users would lose value in a short period of time after buying a new car, when it was quickly digested
The answer is that a 20-50 per cent loss a year is normal, with extreme cases reaching more than 51 per cent. But as long as you choose the right type -- e. G. Avoiding the "electronic fast-forward" that's too fast, or the hot-gate fuel truck with the official residual or the preservation rate is strong -- you can win that average。
Next question: is your car still worth saving when it pushes a new car at a “most month” rate
