Of the 60 automotive brands previously represented in Russia, as of the end of 2022, 14 continue their full-fledged activities, and 46 have stopped working in one way or another. such data given According to the statement made by the Russian Association of Automobile Dealers (ROAD).
Among the operating companies there are three Russian car brands – Lada, GAZ and UAZ, the rest represent the Chinese automobile industry. Especially the Chinese brand Haval, which has its own factory in the Tula region, continues to work in Russia. Geely sources the cars from its factory in Belarus, while Chery imports the cars directly from China.
In addition to the main Chery brand, this company, which sells crossovers under the Exeed brand in our country, introduced a new Omoda brand to the Russian market in 2022. JAC, FAW, Dongfeng, Changan, Exeed, GAC and Foton brands also continue to operate in Russia.
Renault and Nissan
The first foreign automaker to completely leave Russia was the American concern General Motors. what is the company about reduces The Kommersant newspaper reported in April that the supply of machinery and spare parts to the Russian office and dealers was stopped.
socialbites.ca in April WroteThat the Renault-Nissan concern is preparing to sell its assets to Russian state institutions. As a result, more than 67% of the shares of the Russian auto giant were transferred to the NAMI scientific institute and
The Moscow government became the owner of the Russian Renault factory.
At these facilities, assembly of Moskvich 3 crossovers from JAC car kits began in early November. A spare parts warehouse with warranty support and the supply of spare parts for already sold cars of the French brand was transferred to AvtoVAZ.
According to the same plan, the assets of Japanese Nissan were transferred to state ownership in October. st. Petersburg became the property of NAMI.
Nissan estimated the damage from leaving Russia at $686 million.
Mazda, Toyota, BMW and Mercedes-Benz
Toyota also announced that automobile production in Russia was stopped in September and that St. It also officially announced the dismissal of the staff of its plant in St. Petersburg. The process of laying off employees lasted until the end of the year. The Japanese automaker did not report on the further fate of its enterprise, but at the end of November, the factory in the Shushary industrial zone became the object of close attention of the security forces. With the support of the Russian Guard, the prosecutor’s office arrived there with an unplanned inspection for compliance with the requirements of the law.
German Mercedes-Benz announced its withdrawal from the Russian market at the end of October.
and the readiness of the transaction for the sale of assets to the Russian seller holding Avtodom. As with other foreign automakers, automobile production and export deliveries were halted at a plant in Solnechnogorsk near Moscow in the spring.
After regulatory approval, the company’s factory, as well as its own dealerships, a bank, and the financial structures of the Russian division of Mercedes-Benz are planned to become the property of Avtodom.
Japanese Mazda announced in November that it had handed over its assembly plant in Vladivostok to its partner Sollers for 1 euro and stopped its production activities in Russia. Losses due to Mazda’s departure from our market amounted to $82 million. In March, BMW concern announced that it was breaking long-standing cooperation with the Avtotor plant in Kaliningrad, and the Bavarian company became a pioneer in Russian car assembly. BMW has also stopped exporting its models to the country.
they sit quietly
At the same time, some major foreign automakers, including those with their own car factories in Russia, have not yet announced the end of their activities in Russia and the sale of assets.
Korean Hyundai, the owner of the Kia and Genesis brands, which are especially popular in Russia, continues to exist in this mode. At the end of October, it became known that the company has a factory in St. Petersburg. elongated Outage until December. The Hyundai representative office declined to comment on the current mode of operation of the factory and questions regarding the Russian office.
British Jaguar Land Rover and American Jeep are expressly prohibited from importing new cars into Russia by sanctions,
Especially restrictive documents introduced by the governments of Great Britain and the United States prohibit the importation of cars of any class into Russia. However, it was not reported that the representative offices of these brands were closed.
A few months after the sanctions were imposed, Japanese Subaru continued its work in Russia: as of August, it was selling the rest of the cars while maintaining service and warranty maintenance of the cars.
Volkswagen and Peugeot-Citroen
Volkswagen concern restricted its activities at the production site in Nizhny Novgorod and laid off employees working there in the summer, the fate of the plant in Kaluga is still not determined.
The concern is dealing with an investor to whom this business can be sold,
It was reported in the autumn of the German press.
PSMA Russian factory, which assembles passenger and commercial models of Peugeot-Citroen in the Kaluga region, as well as Mitsubishi crossover models, was put into idle mode at the end of March. The entity’s subsequent fate was also not reported. The company declined to comment on the current status of the plant and the work of brands included in Stellantis (Peugeot, Citroen, Opel, Jeep) in Russia.
Japanese Mitsubishi has not announced its withdrawal from Russia: the company even offers its customers new loan products from its subsidiary bank. Suzuki continues to sell the rest: according to the official website of the brand, 85 crossovers of this brand are currently available for purchase in Russia.
Where is the market manager?
Independent automotive industry consultant Sergey Burgazliev believes that in the current environment, a consumer who wants to buy a new car has to choose between Russian brands and budget cars of Chinese brands, and this situation will not change in the next few years.
“We came from a more or less civilized market to the state of the 90s,
when anything can be brought to a customer for money, but with increased risks and without warranty service. Service is also involved, ”Burgazliev says in an interview with socialbites.ca.
Pointing out that some cars that started to be imported through parallel imports are so far from the Russian market, there may be serious problems in the supply of spare parts, especially body parts, the source added that this situation will lead to an increase in sales. insurance cost.
He also points out that, due to expensive logistics and associated costs, “parallel” cars will not be cheaper than those that are officially supplied. Prices for “official” spare parts increased by 50-60% in 2022, depending on the brand, and delivery times increased significantly.
What will happen tomorrow
“The most interesting thing will happen in the new year. “The Moskvich, Avtotor and Nissan factories will be fully operational, where they plan to assemble similar models from Chinese car kits to Nissan Qashqai and X-Trail crossovers under the Lada brand,” he said.
Igor Morzharetto, partner of the Avtostat analytical agency, draws attention to the fact that there is a serious shortage of cars in the middle price segment in the Russian automobile market and that parallel imports cannot meet this shortcoming.
“Now there are two segments to choose from – very cheap Lada cars with a price of up to 1 million rubles, Chinese cars costing 2 million, and remnants of previously produced cars, again costing at least 2 million rubles. . Not like a year ago
Nothing like this has happened in any of the previous crises,” he said.
Morzharetto tells socialbites.ca.
There is almost no product variety in the middle class, buyers’ behavior has changed as well, they are mobilizing their reserves without realizing what will happen tomorrow and delaying large purchases indefinitely, he explains.
“Parallel imports did not become a substitution factor. In this way, no more than 5,000 cars are imported per month, 60,000 cars per year is not a lot. Morzharetto estimates that parallel imports will take up 10-15% of the market next year.
At the same time, the expert noted that this will still not be a decisive mechanism, since mostly expensive cars are imported through parallel imports due to costly logistics, and the greatest demand is seen in the budget and middle price segments.