Most Western automakers, who have fought with domestic companies for market share since they began building factories in Russia in the early 2000s, ceased operations last spring.
“We have lived our whole lives focused on European, Japanese, American brands and did not especially take the Chinese market into account, which…has developed at an incredible rate,” said Vladimir Shestak, general director of Altair-Auto in Vladivostok, whose dealership specializes in the Mercedes-Benz and Geely brands.
Though the majority of foreign companies have exited Russia or are in the process of leaving, lingering stocks and parallel imports mean some companies’ cars remain on sale for now.
Domestic producer AvtoVAZ’s Lada brand is Russia’s most popular. Renault, through its former controlling stake in AvtoVAZ, had the highest market share among foreign producers before Russia began what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine.
While Chinese cars are increasingly filling the gap, the lack of reputation remains an issue, said auto industry expert Sergey Aslanyan.
“Yes, they have almost no competitors here anymore,” he said. “But that does not mean that people will change their opinion quickly.”
Chinese brands’ market share reached 37.15 percent in January-February, up from 9.48 percent a year earlier, Autostat and PPK data showed.
Sales of departing European, Japanese and Korean brands were down to 22.6 percent from 70 percent.
The sharp swing comes, however, amid plummeting sales of new cars, which slumped 59 percent in 2022 as lower living standards and a desire for Western-made vehicles caused people to reduce their spending and purchase more used cars.
In a sign of growing cooperation China’s Haval is now producing cars locally, while in Moscow, the revived Soviet-era Moskvich is using engine parts, design and engineering from China’s JAC.
But another gripe for consumers is the price. Even Medvedev said the Moskvich’s price looked a little high.
The model 3 costs around 2 million rubles ($26,195). Prices for the Lada Granta, Russia’s most widely sold car, start at around 680,000 rubles.
“(The Chinese) are bringing in a lot of cars but if we talk about price, not quality, there are no cheap cars at all,” said Maxim Kadakov, editor in chief of the “Behind the Wheel” magazine.
