Judging by the Yandex.Wordstat service, which analyzes requests from Yandex users, last month 8027 people were interested in buying a Chinese car (for comparison: only 386 times for European cars).
Thus, the Russians managed to rebuild in a year, and instead of European, Japanese and Korean cars, they look at the “Chinese”. Unless, of course, we do not take into account the supporters of Lada.
*This material was created by a person who has the status of a foreign agent in the Russian Federation.
Expert opinion
Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of the magazine “Behind the wheel”:
– At the same time, the prices for the “Chinese” are now crazy! Where the prices for Ladas end, the prices for Chinese cars only begin. There is really nothing cheaper now than 2 million rubles among the “Chinese”. And the one who remains a supporter of the Lada, most likely, understands that he cannot bear the costs of the “Chinese” in any case.
If you buy a Chinese crossover with 18-inch wheels, and then it’s time to buy tires, you will notice that such a wheel costs twice as much as a 15-inch one. The same applies to other spare parts and body repairs. Therefore, people who buy Lada are not ready to part with a lot of money while using the car. They are ready to give up something – more frequent breakdowns, a low level of comfort. But they want to make sure that if something needs to be fixed, it will cost real money.
Whoever buys Chinese cars now: new or relatively fresh – these are people who have actually switched from more expensive cars. Probably not from Lada. But the “conservative core” of car owners continues to support what they are used to. But I think those who are used to driving foreign cars and do not accept Chinese cars will wait and see the situation in the near future.
The one who “reached” only Lada will remain with Lada. And China is actually in the middle, it’s for people who are ready to try, who are not tied to the brand, to their ideas of what a car should be. They believe that they just need a fresh car right now. If we assume that in a year’s time everyone will reconcile and we will sell all cars again, these people will just as easily switch back from Chinese cars to Hyundai, Kia and Skoda.
- “Driving” can be seen on YouTube.