Page 205 - RusRPTAug24

56.3% of the Russian car market, while the share of domestic (Russian) brands will be 34.17%.
The total fleet of Chinese cars in Russia reached 1.86mn as of July 1, Kommersant writes, citing Avtostat data on registrations.
The growth is outstripping: the share of Chinese cars has added almost a percentage point since the beginning of the year and reached 4% of the entire fleet, and in units, the fleet has increased by 28%, or 410 thousand. If the trend continues, and there is no reason to assume otherwise, then Chinese brands will enter the top 5 of the fleet in a couple of years, overtaking French and American ones (currently 6% and 7%, respectively).
Last year, the "Chinese" accounted for 52.3% of demand (by registrations) for all new cars. A total of 1.089mn cars were sold. According to the results of the first half of 2024, their share has grown - 420 thousand out of 710 thousand. Domestic Lada sold half as many - 220 thousand cars. The top 3 by accumulated volume of Chinese cars, without surprises, were the best-selling brands - Chery (444.7 thousand), Geely (341.1 thousand) and Haval (296 thousand). It is noteworthy that exactly half of this fleet was registered in the last year and a half. At the same time, it is easy to predict that the aging pre-sanction "Koreans" and "Europeans" will be quickly eliminated.
What do I get out of this The Russian car market too quickly came to a state where a car can only be of four types - Russian, Chinese, "gray" or used. In just two years, a new Chinese car has turned from a risky choice into the only choice, at least in the crossover, business sedans or pickups sector.
The speed at which the large neighbor is capturing the Russian market is clearly demonstrated by the fact that even in 2022, the share of cars from China in sales did not exceed 20%, and in 2021 it was at the level of 7.5%. Most Russian factories of Western companies now also assemble Chinese cars.
Difficulties with payments to China threaten to stop the supply of cars and components from China to Russia, head of the Russian Association of Automobile Dealers (ROAD) Alexey Podshchekoldin said at a specially convened press conference. ROAD also sent a letter to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, asking for help and clarification on whether it is possible to appeal to this circumstance as force majeure in case of failure to fulfill payment obligations, due to which car dealers have already faced fines.
“Since March, large Chinese banks have practically stopped accepting payments from Russia, including in yuan. According to media reports, Chinese banks have limited transactions with Russian counterparties due to the threat of secondary sanctions. Payments to Chinese partners are not received at all or they are delayed indefinitely,” Podshchekoldin said.
205 RUSSIA Country Report August 2024 www.intellinews.com