According to a study by the 2GIS mapping service commissioned by socialbites.ca, in the 12 months since June 1, 2021, the number of car washes in major Russian cities has decreased by more than 4%. At the same time, according to the data of the service, almost the entire decline occurred in the first half of 2022.
Thus, according to 2GIS, from January to June 2022, the number of washes in Moscow is more than 6%, in St. Petersburg – 7%, in Nizhny Novgorod – almost 6%.
Compared to June 2021 (for the year), the number of car washes in Nizhny Novgorod decreased by almost 10%, more than in other densely populated cities.
Petersburg, almost 9% of such enterprises were closed at the same time, in Kazan – 5%, in Chelyabinsk and Moscow, about 4% of car washes stopped working last year.
A similar trend was noted in Yekaterinburg, Novosibirsk, Chelyabinsk, Krasnodar, Omsk, Samara, Krasnoyarsk, Kazan, Ufa and Voronezh.
noted in the map service study.
An exception to this trend among large cities is shown only in Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don and Perm, where the number of working car washes has remained almost unchanged or increased by ten percent.
Industry representatives, who continue to work, complain about the increase in the prices of auto chemicals used in car washes and the shortage of personnel.
Ivan Krasnov, commercial director of the Kaskad car wash network from Nizhny Novgorod, says that such businesses have switched to a self-service format, mainly due to the shortage of employees.
“In the past, students or temporary job seekers could work as a washing machine. Now they mostly work as courier for the delivery of orders, cooperate with pickers,
Krasnov explains in an interview with a socialbites.ca correspondent. “As a result, the car wash may not close, but customers are getting used to the new format – they wash their cars themselves.”
According to him, there is currently a decline in customer flow as it was during the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, cars tend to be washed less frequently in the summer than in the winter or off-season, he adds.
Aleksey, a representative of the Avtodrive car wash network from the Moscow region, insists that the flow of customers is stable at the moment, but complains about the rise in prices for auto chemicals, which has had to increase the prices of their services.
“The price of autochemistry has increased by about 50%. In this regard, we had to increase the price of the car wash by about 15%. Otherwise, we work as usual,
He told socialbites.ca.
Yang Haytseer, vice president of the National Automobile Association, says the fact that car washes as a business have become unprofitable in some cases, along with falling demand, is due to high land rental prices and the need for maintenance of treatment plants. .
“Sewage treatment plants are expensive to operate and maintain, and most car washes have attempted to dump their waste into the sewers.
But in recent years they have been tightly controlled and impose large fines.
Heitzeer explains to socialbites.ca. – In addition, the high rent of land sharply reduces the profitability of washing. Ownership of the land is essential for this business to be profitable.”
The environmental requirements for such businesses are very stringent, and the fines for violators have increased dramatically over the past few years. In the case of automatic car washes, problems with the purchase of foreign components for such complexes can also lead to the impossibility of continued work.
“Also, due to lack of money, people are less likely to use such services.
In addition, the profitability of car washes is generally low,” concluded Heitzeer.
Petr Shkumatov, coordinator of the Blue Buckets movement, says car washes, which are located in impassable areas and do not have a stable pool of corporate customers, are the first to be closed.
“The price of auto chemistry has almost doubled, the cost of workers’ wages has risen, many just left. All this ultimately led to an increase in the cost of services for drivers,
– Shkumatov argues in an interview with socialbites.ca. “Drivers also started saving money on washing as it was an optional procedure.”
He adds that between falling demand and rising prices, car washes have fixed costs such as rent, fees, water and electricity. Shkumatov believes that up to 20% of these businesses may exit the market in the near future and that this process is currently at an early stage.