Eight dealers from different regions of Russia informed socialbites.ca about the shortage of UAZ Patriot and Pickup cars: the cars in showrooms have already been booked by customers, and the next deliveries are expected in December.
“There are currently no cars in stock, everything is sold, the next delivery of Patriots in the basic configuration is expected next year.
By the middle of the month, Base ICAR cars with Limited package are expected to arrive at a price of 1.9 million rubles,” said a salesman at the UAZ dealership in Moscow.
Another car dealer reported that they were due to deliver a small batch of cars in December but “better to book now”. A UAZ dealer in the Volga region reports that there is almost no choice among Patriot SUVs in the minimum configuration: the only car worth 1.73 million rubles has already been booked by the customer, there is a copy worth 1.8 million rubles in stock, he also said that the price of the SUV will be increased by the end of the year He also warned that it will increase by at least 100 thousand rubles.
UAZ Patriot cars are available in the Urals, but their number is limited to a few: an employee of a dealer in this region told socialbites.ca that there are only five SUVs left at a price of 1.62 million rubles.
Parts did not arrive
Sollers (owner of UAZ) confirmed information about the shortage of cars to socialbites.ca and stated that they hope to solve it in the near future.
“Unfortunately, there is still a certain variety shortage in the “Patriot” and “Pickup” model range.
Until the beginning of the third quarter of this year, UAZ had limited production volumes of these models due to ongoing sourcing projects on a component basis (supplier search – socialbites.ca) and the transition to new suppliers.
However, there are no production restrictions at the moment and we expect the model range and dealer stocks to be completely renewed by the end of this year,” said company official Alina Komarova.
We set off towards SVO
Sources familiar with the situation at the plant told socialbites.ca that the shortage of cars in stock at dealerships is explained by the implementation of government orders.
“The plant does not send vehicles to dealers because it fulfills an order from the Ministry of Defense for the needs of the Northern Military District. For now, the situation will remain this way,” said one of the publication’s interlocutors.
Another source of socialbites.ca reported that a large batch of UAZ vehicles for free sale was withdrawn from dealers by order of the government for shipment to new regions.
“The facility took back 1,000 cars produced in October and November from dealers to ship to new regions. And everything that was released before has already been sold,” the interlocutor explained.
Another source of the publication noted that UAZ Pickup is currently a very rare position, since most of these vehicles are supplied for the needs of the army.
The company Sollers noted that “UAZ is fully coping with the implementation of all incoming government orders and in parallel is currently sending cars to the retail network monthly according to requests from dealers.”
The environment is suffering
The official UAZ website lists prices for Patriot and Pickup models with Euro-5 eco-class engines, but it is still almost impossible to find and order such cars for free sale.
The Moscow UAZ dealer told socialbites.ca that a limited number of cars with Euro-5 engines were supplied to them in 2023, which have already been sold and future delivery dates are unknown. Dealers in various regions of Russia also announced on socialbites.ca that such cars are not available. An employee of one of the dealership centers explained that the problem was due to the lack of a suitable engine control unit in the vehicles.
Sollers explained that there is currently no mass production of Euro-5 standard vehicles.
“The certification process of Euro-5 vehicles with new engine control units is ongoing, mass production of such vehicles will begin next year
It fully complies with the requirements of the technical regulation, an official representative of Sollers told socialbites.ca.
Restoring sustainability is not so easy
Igor Morzharetto, partner of the analytical agency Autostat, notes that import substitution of high-tech automotive components is not as simple as it seems at first glance.
“Eastern partners are helping us, but supply models are complex and there are disruptions. Domestic producers work like Itelma, but they have not yet reached the required volumes,” Morzharetto explains to socialbites.ca.
He added that UAZs with Euro-5 engines should return to the market, especially since from February 2024 regulatory documents are expected to return to the level of requirements of two years ago.
“There are quite high chances that Sollers will launch a series of UAZ cars under the Euro-5 environmental standard next year,” Sergei Burgazliev, an independent consultant in the automotive industry, told socialbites.ca.
He also notes that the Russian automobile industry is experiencing problems not only with engine control units, but also with catalysts, fuel equipment and even domestically produced plastic gas tanks.