Left no choice: which foreign cars can no longer be bought in Russia
Source：auto.mail.ru
From：Taiwan Trade Center, Moscow
Update Time：2023/05/04
The lineups of cars presented in Russia are rapidly thinning out. Against the backdrop of the sanctions imposed, most foreign automakers have not been supplying their cars to our country for more than a year.
We Count Losses
Since March last year, most automakers have not delivered cars to Russian dealers due to disruption of supply chains or suspension of their activities due to external sanctions. Moreover, some officially announced their withdrawal from the Russian market, while retaining the opportunity to return at the first opportunity.
As a result, the number of car models officially presented in our country decreased by 21% over the year, the experts of the Avtostat agency calculated. So, at the beginning of 2023, Russian dealers sold a total of 486 car models, which is 132 items less than last year.
According to the head of the department for working with importers at Gazprombank Autoleasing, Alexander Kornev, buyers, of course, are now unable to access all the variety of models that was offered at the beginning of 2022.
In the future, the range of cars available in Russia, most likely, will not expand significantly. The range will expand due to the introduction of new brands and models to the market by Chinese manufacturers. In addition, a certain role will be played by the speed with which domestic enterprises will increase production volumes and expand the model line.
Indeed, today almost every fifth model in the Russian car market is of Chinese origin. Over the past year alone, the share of "Chinese" has increased from 15% to 18%, although their number has slightly decreased - from 93 to 87 items. As Avtostat predicts, against the backdrop of the departure of Western automakers, by the end of 2023, products from the Middle Kingdom will account for up to 25-30% of car models sold in Russia.
It is worth noting that Chinese automakers, who once came to our country with cheap passenger cars, have massively switched to more expensive crossovers and SUVs in recent years. As a result, after the production of mass foreign cars led by Kia Rio and Hyundai Solaris in Russia was discontinued, the segment of affordable sedans and liftbacks remained almost entirely at the disposal of AvtoVAZ.
However, Iranian Saipa cars, the Quik hatchback, as well as the Saina and Shahin sedans, whose preliminary cost is 1-1.7 million rubles, should appear here soon. But the Chinese novelties turned out to be more expensive: for example, Kaiyi E5 went on sale in the richest configuration worth 1 million 959 thousand rubles, and the Changan Uni-V liftback is offered for 2 million 630 thousand rubles.
“Iranian automakers do not have the potential to meet the needs of Russian buyers in the segment of sedans and liftbacks. They will not be able to compete with Chinese companies in our market. The shortage in this segment will be filled by the same manufacturers from China, who will offer new models at a fairly high price - from 2.5 million rubles, ”comments Alexander Kornev.
Piece Goods
Meanwhile, compensation for losses in the Russian car market is partly facilitated by the parallel import of foreign cars, including new items that have not been officially presented in our country before. According to Avtostat estimates, a total of more than 500 car models of 85 brands are supplied to Russia under this scheme. However, they are sold in single copies and are presented mainly in the premium segment of the car market.
According to Vladimir Zhelobov, Director of the Purchase Department of Avtodom Group of Companies and AvtoSpetsTsentr Group of Companies, parallel imports cannot replace the traditional supply scheme, which involves the manufacturer, distributor and the state. There is no need to talk about large volumes of imports of cars under this scheme - these are point deliveries that cannot compete with the official ones. As a temporary measure, it will to some extent simplify the import of cars into Russia, in particular, the premium segment. According to this scheme, the most expensive cars are mainly received, since they have the maximum margin when selling.
“Parallel imports mainly import cars worth 3-5 million rubles, which is due to high costs for logistics and financial transactions. It is necessary to spend at least 400 thousand rubles for the delivery of any car, not counting excise taxes and VAT. It makes no sense to import cars cheaper than 2.5 million rubles, since their price will increase significantly due to the necessary expenses,” the expert sums up.
Source: https://auto.mail.ru/article/86997-ne-ostavili-vyibora-kakie-inomarki-bolshe-nelzya-k/?frommail=ft_ml