The dollar and euro rates, traded on the Moscow Stock Exchange on July 6, updated the maximum recorded at the end of March 2022. For one unit of American currency they gave more than 93 rubles, the European unit exceeded the psychological limit of 101 rubles per unit.
When cars get expensive
In an interview with socialbites.ca, car dealers and experts do not doubt that prices will rise, they simply cannot agree on how much the fall in the ruble will affect the price tags at car dealerships. For example, Avilon, one of the largest metropolitan automotive groups, expects a moderate price increase by the end of this month.
“At the moment, importers are on standby against the backdrop of the weakening ruble.
If the downward movement of the ruble does not stop, we can expect car prices to be revised by 3-5% already this month.”
– Renat Tyukteev, deputy general manager for new car sales of the Avilon automobile group, told socialbites.ca.
According to him, in the segment of cars supplied by official Chinese importers, the rise in prices will be more moderate, as they try to smooth out sharp currency fluctuations in their marketing policies. Tyukteev says that dealers will rewrite the price tags of cars imported by Russian dealers as part of parallel imports as soon as possible.
Andrey Olkhovsky, CEO of the Avtodom group of companies, is more skeptical of prices, expecting the current depreciation of the ruble to be reflected in car prices by the end of summer, due to the stricter pricing policy of automakers. From China, which dominates the Russian car market.
“Chinese companies are taking a tougher approach to this issue than previously taken by European manufacturers.
I believe that the price increase will be in the range of 8-12 percent in two months,” he said.
Olkhovsky states in an interview with socialbites.ca.
In addition, there will be a contraction in the automobile segment supplied to Russia through imports in line with the current exchange rate. He hopes that adjustment to the new reality and new prices will happen no earlier than in a month or two.
“Given the current dynamics of the ruble exchange rate, there will be no parallel imports in general. The availability of the car supply is dwindling, as consumers are not always ready to buy a car for an amount that includes all the costs of their delivery through parallel imports,” says Olkhovsky.
Better buy now
Avtodom head, independent advisor to the automotive industry, Sergey Burgazliev, agrees that the depreciation of the ruble will affect car prices in about two months, with prices increasing by about 10% by September.
“Contracted and paid vehicles will not be affected. As for what happens on the road, it all depends on the payment terms,” Burgazliev explains to socialbites.ca.
According to that,
The price increase will have less impact on Chinese brands and will mostly affect cars imported from Arab countries, Japan and Turkey.
This applies to both new and used cars.
“I believe that a rise in prices is inevitable, and if there is a goal of buying a car before the price increase, it is better to do it now. Burgazliev argues that over the entire history of my observations of the Russian market, cars have become cheaper only a few times, and even then not so much.
The cost of a car that a customer orders from abroad will already include a higher exchange rate, but a decrease in the ruble in the future will also affect the price of cars produced in Russia, since a significant part of their cost is purchased parts. For exchange, the general director of the “AUTOSTAT” analytical agency warned Sergey Tselikov.
“Any car assembled in Russia has a currency component.
If we talk about brands such as Moskvich, then, in my opinion, it reaches 80-90%. AvtoVAZ products own about 50%.
Where it is smaller, there is inertia, ”Tselikov explains in a conversation with socialbites.ca.
Andrey Terlyukevich, general manager of the Avtospetstsentr group of companies, can hope that despite the increase in prices, sales in Russia will reach 1 million cars by the end of the year.
“If you really need a car, you shouldn’t delay buying it because there is no tendency to lower prices. “Chinese cars continue to be among the most demanded cars in the market,” he said.
According to the statistics published by the Automobile Manufacturers Committee of the Union of European Enterprises of the Russian Federation, in the first half of 2023, new passenger cars and light commercial vehicle sales in Russia increased by 10% compared to the previous year and amounted to 428.3 units. thousand vehicles. AEB also expects the Russian market to reach 1 million vehicles by the end of the year.