Quite recently, the Russians choose between Lada, Skoda, Volkswagen, and Bentley, and now more and more often between Dongfeng, Kaiyi, and Hongqi. Only Lada remained out of the Russian brands now. Chinese companies almost entirely occupy the rest of the market.
The Chinese are taking advantage of the collapse of the Russian automotive industry last year due to Moscow launching a full-scale war in Ukraine. The consequence of the Kremlin’s actions is Western sanctions and pressure from Western societies to withdraw car manufacturers from Russia.
French Renault did it first, followed by Toyota, Lexus, Nissan, Mercedes-Benz, and Ford. Their factories often ended up under the control of the state or local authorities. KIA, Hyundai, and Volkswagen suspend the operation of their factories. In February this year, the Germans declared that they would sell their manufacturer in Kaluga. Gradually, manufacturers of car parts also withdrew from the market.
Due to these procedures, car production decreased by more than 61 percent. Six hundred ten thousand fewer cars were produced compared to the previous year. At the same time, car prices went up by 1/4. The most notable increases were recorded with the Western brands – over 39 percent. Also, the costs for spare parts rose. Parallel import has emerged.
However, the prices of Russian cars also increased by almost 30 percent. The Russians began to produce simplified versions of vehicles with older versions of engines or without car safety systems – such as ESP or ABS.
The history of Chinese brands in Russia is a phenomenon that has been around for a while. Its occurrence is more familiar than it might seem. For instance, Chery appeared as early as 2005. This brand’s cars were imported from China and Kaliningrad and assembled at the Avtotor automobile manufacturing company. Later on, the Russians learned names such as Geely, Haval, JAC, or FAW.
The last one, FAW Group Corporation, returned to Russia like a boomerang. China’s first state-owned car manufacturer was established in 1953 by engineers trained in the USSR. A look-alike model of the Soviet prototype ZIS-150 truck was produced there. Today’s vehicles sold by the Chinese to the Russians are built based on Western models from years ago.
Their quality – at least according to Russian experts – had remarkably improved compared to what they produced at the beginning of the 21st century. The sheet metal from which the car’s bodywork was made was called a “foil” back then. However, vehicles’ low load capacity is still problematic and needs to be solved. The Chinese use them mainly to move around the city – says expert Sergey Mishin in an interview with the St. Petersburg Fontanka portal.
– A trip 100 km from home is a difficult and tedious task for the Chinese people. Therefore, the cars have a limited capacity and load capacity of 300-340 kilograms. Our standard payload is 450. […] The average human weight is 80 kg. He says you can’t put anything in the trunk if you fit three people in a Chinese car.
A Russian certificate in Chinese cars may also be a problem, making installing the towbar on the trailer impossible.
Moreover, cars produced in China by Western corporations are also becoming a part of the Russian market. The FAW mentioned earlier, and Volkswagen created the Jetta brand (not to be confused with the Volkswagen Jetta model). The VS5 is designed in Europe and manufactured in China. Beijing’s policy for a foreign investor is to hold a maximum of 51 percent of the company’s shares. The rest belongs to the Chinese corporation. Jetta goes from China to Russia. According to Russian experts, it resembles a budget version of Volkswagen.
The Toyota Camry, manufactured in China in cooperation with the local company GAC, is imported to the Russian market. This process is done via parallel imports, presumably, without the manufacturer’s approval. Journalists tested the car from the RBK agency. They do not complain about the quality of the vehicle. In their opinion, the standard is even higher than in Toyota, which was assembled in Russia until 2022.
The case may be that the car communicates with the owner in two languages - the enemy state, English, and the ally country language, Chinese. The car costs 4.5 million rubles (59019,87 USD), one million rubles cheaper than the same Toyota, but assembled in St. Petersburg. In Poland, the prices of last year’s models start at 41985.86 USD. Cars produced in China can be serviced in Russia using genuine Toyota parts. The Japanese have yet to leave the Russian market entirely.
The Russians also like to have their regional brands. Last year, the Moskvich was reactivated with two models, 3 and 3e, which are, in fact, the Chinese cars, JAC JS4, and Sehol E40X, with the addition of the logo of the Russian manufacturer. Sales are growing at an “astronomical” pace. In February, 57 vehicles were sold for 2 to 3.5 million rubles, from 26362,43 USD to 46660,70 USD. It is difficult to call this a great market demand since, in January, half as many cars were sold. However, the company plans to produce two more copies of Chinese vehicles this year.
The same as the Moskvich, the Evolute electric car is also of Chinese origin. It’s produced in the village of Grebienkino, south of Moscow, at the Motorinwest manufacturer. Initially, vehicles of Chinese companies Great Wall were made there, then Changan. In 2019, the corporation was on the verge of bankruptcy. It returned to assembling cars from China, this time electric ones from the Dongfeng factory. The business is thriving once again thanks to sanctions and state subsidies. The Russians attach the Evolute badge to them, and the autos are listed as Russian cars in the media.
In Russia, cars of only two manufacturers have been produced under Chinese brands – Haval in Tula and Kaiyi in the Kaliningrad region since this year. Despite numerous declarations of friendship, Beijing prefers to give employment to the Chinese rather than the Russians.
Within a year, the Chinese took over 36 percent of the Russian market for new car sales. It is 3.5 times more than a year earlier, in January 2022 – a month before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Notably, the percentage increase was not due to an immense boost in imports from China but rather due to poorer results of other producers. We are talking about cars imported from China, not assembled in Russia. The most significant number of newly registered vehicles this year in Russia are cars of brands such as Chery, Haval, Geely, Exceed, and Оmoda. They are all Chinese.
Russian specialists predict the Russians will buy 680,000 to 780,000 new cars this year. Some will be Chinese cars that only pretend to be Russian. Without a doubt, many will be of Chinese production.
Piotr Pogorzelski/belsat.eu
Translated by PEV.
