Auto & Transportation

New forces in international trade! In a Chery car store in the south of Moscow, the Russian capital, cars of various models of the Reich series are parked neatly and uniformly. February 3 is a working day, and many customers still come to see the car for test drive. Garrick, a car salesman who has worked in this store for four years, said that the sales volume has been increasing in recent years, except for the period of closing during the epidemic.

In recent years, Chinese cars have established brand awareness in Russia with high quality, economy and reliability, and won a large number of fans. Nowadays, in the busy traffic flow on the Russian roads, in addition to the local Lada brand cars, the most are the cars of many Chinese brands.

Hundreds of new sales outlets opened a year

According to a recent survey jointly conducted by Russian magazine and a local commercial bank, by the end of 2022, the number of Chinese brand car dealers in Russia reached 1041, accounting for almost one third of the total number of Russian car dealers.

Last year, 487 new Chinese auto sales stores were opened in Russia. The rapid expansion of stores is due to the strong demand for Chinese cars in the Russian market.

In 2022, Russia imported about 117000 passenger cars from China, an increase of 40% over the previous year. China has become the main source of passenger cars imported by Russia.

In addition to ordinary consumers, Russian car rental companies and taxi companies also actively purchase Chinese cars. Since July last year, Yandex Auto Sharing Company of Russia has started to update the fleets of various cities such as Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi in stages. It has purchased hundreds of Geely's Kuri, Haval and Chery Reich and other Chinese brand cars, and will continue to update the fleets this year.

The Russian "European Plan" car rental company said that the Russian car rental industry paid particular attention to Chinese-made cross-border cars, and favored Chery, Geely, Haval, Jianghuai and other Chinese car brands. VTB Car Rental is confident that the share of Chinese brand cars in the Russian market will increase significantly. Russian auto expert Bulgazliyev said that by the end of this year, the share of Chinese cars in the Russian market is expected to increase to 40%.

In view of the good international trade market prospects, Avitotor, a large Russian automobile manufacturer mainly engaged in assembly, has started to assemble Chinese Kaiyi brand cars, and actively negotiated cooperation with other Chinese automobile brands.

"Made in China" was affirmed by Russian counterparts

Molzareda, a well-known automobile expert and member of the Public Relations Committee of the Federal Highway Administration of the Ministry of Transport of Russia, said in an interview with our reporter that the best-selling of Chinese cars in Russia benefited from the excellent performance of Chinese auto companies. If some Russian consumers previously had prejudice against Chinese cars, they now have a good impression of Chinese cars.

Two years ago, Moscow resident Arjom bought a sports utility vehicle (SUV) under the Trumpchi brand of GAC. For him, this car fully meets the needs of a large family of three children, and also has all the necessary equipment.

"I haven't reported for repair in the past two years. Everything is normal and I am very satisfied." He said, "In terms of quality and comfort, it is much better than Korean cars and Japanese cars."

Chinese cars entered the Russian market at the beginning of the 21st century. Russian consumers have always been cautious about foreign things. With the absorption of senior experts in the world automotive industry and continuous improvement of technology and services, Chinese auto companies have established a firm foothold in the Russian market and increasingly consolidated their position.

The Russian "expert selection" website said in a market analysis report that in recent years, the overall quality of Chinese cars has improved rapidly and the technology is more advanced. Some models are not only inferior to those of the world's leading brands, but even better in some aspects.

At present, most Chinese cars sold in Russia are in the middle price range, ranging from 1.8 million rubles (about 172000 yuan) to 3.5 million rubles (about 334000 yuan).

New forces in international trade! Russian industry analysts pointed out that compared with other foreign cars at the same price, Chinese cars tend to provide more fashionable appearance design and richer and more interesting configurations, achieving a perfect balance in terms of decoration grade, price and technology. In addition, the warranty period or mileage of Chinese brand cars is also more, even reaching 7 years or 200000 kilometers, providing consumers with practical protection. Among many foreign automobile brands, Chinese automobile stands out.

Inject vitality into the Russian auto market

Last February, after Russia launched a special military action against Ukraine, western auto companies withdrew from Russia, resulting in a large gap in the Russian auto market. The local car brand in Russia is very single, and Lada brand is the absolute leader in the Russian car market.

Lada Automobile is produced by Volga Automobile Manufacturing Plant in Samara. It also previously assembled cars for foreign auto companies such as Nissan and Renault, and the cooperation was interrupted after the outbreak of the Russian-Uzbekistan conflict. Last year, due to the lack of some parts, the old car manufacturer stopped production for a time.

Affected by western sanctions, the sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in Russia fell by about 59% year-on-year last year, and the automobile market fell into a downturn. Kalitsev, Chairman of the Automobile Manufacturers Committee of the European Enterprise Association in Russia, said in January that the Russian automobile market has great potential and there is a positive development trend; This year, several new Chinese auto brands will appear in Russia. The rich brands will promote the development of the Russian auto market.

New forces in international trade! Russian auto industry experts and media are closely following the trend of Chinese auto companies, tracking the launch and delivery progress of various brands, analyzing the performance of new models and predicting the market prospects. News about Chinese cars often appear in the newspapers.

Although Western sanctions against Russia have led to cost increases including tariffs and freight charges, resulting in a sharp rise in the price of Chinese cars sold in Russia, Russian consumers still favor Chinese cars. According to the sales data in January this year, Chinese cars have become the champion of foreign car sales in Russia. Among the 10 best-selling sport utility vehicles in Russia, China has 8.

Russian auto expert Bruy said that although Chinese auto companies currently bring medium and low-grade cars to the Russian market, China's first-tier cars have already surpassed European brands and will become their excellent substitutes. He hoped that more Chinese brands would join the Russian market as soon as possible and international trade would develop steadily.

At present, Volga Automobile Factory has listed Chery and other Chinese automobile enterprises as competitors. Russian experts believe that the diversification of market participants is conducive to healthy competition.

In the future, with the ardent expectation of Russian consumers and auto assembly manufacturers, it can be predicted that more and more Chinese brands will blossom in Russia and inject fresh vitality into the development of the Russian auto market.