The Russian car market is “occupied” by Chinese products

According to a report by the Russian Association of Auto Dealers, while there are 11 Chinese automaker brands on the market, 78% of the Russian auto market has been captured by Chinese automakers, as only three are produced locally.

It is noted that instead of “Mercedes”, “Volkswagen”, “Porsche”, “Opel” and other brands of Western countries, residents of Russia choose between “Lada”, GAZ, VAZ and 11 Chinese brands – “Chery”. “Geely”, “Haval”, “Jac”, “Faw”, “Dongfeng”, “Changan”, “Exeed”, “Gac”, “Photon” and “Omoda”. In response to the war initiated by Russia in Ukraine, all brands produced in Europe, the USA and Korea ceased their activities in the Russian market. In total, 16 out of 19 automobile plants in Russia ceased operations.

Data from the agency “Autostat” show that from January to November, the share of Chinese cars in the Russian market increased significantly – 16,138 Chinese-made cars were sold in November, although in January their number was 8,235.

Taking into account the decrease in competition with the withdrawal of Western brands from the market, the market share of AvtoVAZ increased significantly – it reached 46.8%. It is true that this is at the expense of increasing the sales volume of the morally outdated “Lada Grant” and “Lada Niva”.

“Avtostat” shows that on average in Russia a new car costs 2.29 million rubles (34.7 thousand euros), which is 19% more than last year. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has instructed the government to exercise full control over the prices of Russian-made cars and prevent “unreasonable increases”.

Russian citizens using “gray imports” have the opportunity to purchase cars from Western countries, such as BMW, Toyota, Lamborghini, Bentley and many other brands.

However, market participants note that “gray imports” are common only in the premium segment. For example, the business of “little used” luxury cars has developed in Russia. Under the “gray import” programs, little-used luxury cars are brought into the country and sold at showrooms in the center of Moscow.