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The Avtodom and Avtospeccenter companies decided to sharply reduce the supply of cars from the European Union through parallel imports. Kommersant FM there explained this by high prices and, as a result, a drop in demand. Now dealers will bet on premium Chinese cars. Experts say that in the current conditions this is a logical step, and gradually other players will also refuse to purchase European cars. But will it be possible to get BMW and Mercedes-Benz in Russia? Vladislav Viktorovich understood.

Experts have always said that parallel imports are more suitable for importing high-price segment cars into the country. However, against the background of recent currency surges and increased recycling rates, which can now reach almost 1.5 million rubles, the cost of some cars has grown so much that even long-time fans of BMW and Mercedes-Benz have begun to look at the novelties of the Chinese automotive industry.

Just for such customers, Avtodom and Avtospeccenter decided to clean up their warehouses, arranging a total sale, and then purchase premium cars from China. It's both easier and more profitable. And cars of European brands will probably no longer be in such demand as before, said Oleg Kuznetsov, Director of Marketing and Digital Transformation of the automotive group:

"We have a lot of premium cars imported by parallel imports. We will light the warehouses. Because of this, discounts reach several million rubles, and the price of the car is about 13 million rubles. We will not be able to compensate for these cars in the same amount in the future.

Perhaps there will not even be such a demand. The consumer is already showing interest in other brands. Therefore, we are replacing the shortage with premium cars from other countries, and this is primarily China."

At the same time, there is no talk of a complete rejection of parallel imports. This is due to the fact that even some premium Chinese electric cars have to be imported according to this scheme. Although market participants say that in this case this is not a completely correct term, since brands are not officially represented in Russia.

Nevertheless, importers provide full warranty support to customers. And the demand for these cars is growing, which is noticeable by the example of the Zeekr electric car, which became the record holder in terms of sales in its segment in September, Autostat calculated. At the same time, the overall demand for other parallel imported cars, on the contrary, is falling, says the head of the project "Automarketologist" Oleg Moseev:

What forecasts for the sales of used cars are given by experts

"Scrap collection kills this story so much that there is no point in officially importing it. The share of parallel imports in October in registrations is 10%. 14% — in August. 11% — in September. Then the share will only decrease. Therefore, large companies will begin to abandon parallel imports, it will remain, perhaps, in niche niche things."

At the same time, the Russian market will not remain without BMW and Mercedes-Benz, just their number in retail will decrease even more noticeably, believes the founder of the Avtodegustator company, Ararat Mardoyan. He is sure that small importers will be responsible for their sales, which will even be able to compensate for the price increase:

"The middle link of market participants is being formed, who themselves were suppliers of large customers. Importers are transformed into a wholesale supplier also in retail.

By optimizing some costs, we will most likely be able to compensate for the increase in the payment of the recycling fee. It is extremely difficult to transfer consumers of the luxury segment even to premium cars from China.

However, official dealers themselves can work according to a similar scheme, the interlocutors of Kommersant FM believe. It will not be difficult for them to bring at least a few expensive foreign cars a year for the most loyal customers.

Sales of used cars are on the decline

The market in October decreased by 4% compared to September

The used car market continued to recover in October compared to 2022, but declined by 4% by September. Moreover, sales for the first time since April were below 500 thousand cars per month, amounting to 489.1 thousand. This is a record low volume for 2023 — there were fewer sales only in January, when demand traditionally decreases due to long holidays. Now consumers are reducing activity due to the increase in the cost of loans against the background of the increase in the Central Bank rate.

The market of passenger cars with mileage in October increased by 11.9%, to 489.1 thousand units, calculated "Autostat". However, compared to the previous month, sales were 4% lower. Sales have been declining for the second month in a row: in September, it fell by 7.6% compared to August. This corresponds to how the situation on the market in October was described by Kommersant dealers: a number of them talked about a 3% reduction in sales month-on-month, while others observed stable demand relative to the level of September, but lower than in summer.

The market in October even rolled back below the mark of half a million cars sold for the first time since May 2023. This year, the sales volume was lower only in January, when 361.3 thousand used passenger cars were sold, while the beginning of the year is traditionally a low season for the car market.

The main share of sales in the secondary market is accounted for by domestic Lada. In October, 113.7 thousand used cars of this brand were sold, which is 1.4 less than in the previous month. Next are Toyota (55.8 thousand cars), Kia (26.5 thousand), Hyundai (26.1 thousand) and Nissan (25 thousand). The top 5 models at the same time included two Lada (2114 Samara and 2107), which have not been produced for a long time, as well as Ford Focus (got into the top of new sales only at the end of 2014, not produced since 2019) and the bestsellers of recent years before this crisis - Kia Rio and Hyundai Solaris. The secondary market consists of almost 80% of cars older than seven years, Autostat cited data, so there are still cars in the resale tops whose production has already been stopped.

The supply of used cars is starting to overtake demand

According to the results of January—October, the used car market grew by 22.3%, to 4.8 million units, the analytical agency reports. For comparison, the market of new cars for the same period amounted to 829.5 thousand units. Given the higher sales volumes of used cars, this segment is less volatile. However, dealers state that now the situation on it is also complicated by the rise in the cost of financing after the Central Bank rate increase. In early November, this led to a further cooling of demand for used cars, but the market is expected to revive by the end of the year, when customers adapt to new conditions.

Source: https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6338506?from=vertical_lenta ; https://www.kommersant.ru/doc/6338662?from=vertical_lenta