According to information revealed by the socialbites.ca correspondent, Russian car dealers began to sell cars cheaper than the recommended retail price. Thus, the Nizhny Novgorod dealer Changan offers the Alsvin sedan with a discount of 120 thousand rubles even for cash payment and promises to provide winter tires and a set of additional equipment if the transaction is completed by the end of the week. As a gift.
“The cost when applying for a loan and handing over the car for exchange starts from 1.45 million rubles. For cash payment – 1.63 million rubles. If you do not want to receive a free mop or anti-corrosion treatment, you can decline, but this will not affect the price,” the dealer said.
In turn, the Kaiyi dealership in Ufa is ready to sell the basic version of the E5 sedan at a discount – the price offered to the socialbites.ca correspondent was lower than the price indicated in the factory price list. In addition, the seller still has cars with manual transmission, the mention of which has been removed from the official website of the Chinese brand in Russia.
“According to the price list, the cost of a car with a manual transmission is 1.99 million rubles, with a CVT – 2.2 million rubles. But we will give a discount anyway when we complete the transaction,” said the dealer.
In particular, they offered to buy Kaiyi E5 in the basic configuration with CVT from the dealer with winter tires, crankcase protection and floor mats for 1.91 million rubles.
In the Moscow showroom of the Chinese brand Livan, the X3 Pro crossover is sold at the recommended retail price indicated in the official price list, but they are ready to discuss “additional discounts”:
“In cash, the cost of the car with a 1.5 engine and CVT is 1.9 million rubles. Warranty – five years. “We are ready to talk in the hall about additional discounts and gifts.”
Additional equipment offered by dealers at inflated prices when there is a shortage of vehicles in the market, they promise to give as gifts in the current situation.
“Crankcase protection, floor mats, fenders, winter tires; if you need. Livan Salon said, “We are ready to discuss all these in the final offer, maybe something will be offered as a gift.”
BAIC dealer in the capital offers to buy a U5 Plus sedan with a manual transmission for 1.7 million rubles. The price of the version with CVT is 50 thousand rubles higher, but still cheaper than the recommended retail price, which starts from 2.05 million rubles.
“New deliveries will be in early April and cars will become more expensive. Now the rest of 2023 is ready to be offered at a good discount. We are ready to offer a car with a manual transmission for 1.7 million rubles in cash,” said the dealer manager.
They offer to install additional anti-corrosion treatment, crankcase protection, mats and mesh on the radiator grill for 15-20 thousand rubles. One dealer had five cars with manual transmissions, and with CVT the choice was even wider.
The Omoda dealer in Kursk promised to sell the S5 sedan with a 1.5 engine producing 113 hp. and a CVT at the recommended retail price, taking into account the discount of 260 thousand rubles, which is also indicated in the company price list – when buying in cash this is 1.99 million rubles for a car produced in 2023.
AvtoVAZ and UAZ are not in trend
The trend of discounts on cars did not affect Russian brands.
For example, the most affordable Lada Granta, which can be found at dealerships in the regions of the Russian Federation, is a sedan in the Classic ’23 configuration with a driver’s airbag (without air conditioning), a 90-horsepower 8-valve engine. Manual transmission for 848.9 thousand rubles. The factory price list still includes a car in the “Standard” version without power steering for 700 thousand rubles, but dealers say that there is no such car in stock.
“The standard package has not been produced and delivered for 3-4 months. “We have no plans to produce more of these,” a salesman at the official Lada dealership in Yekaterinburg told a socialbites.ca correspondent.
The official Lada dealership in Samara also called Granta the most affordable for 848 thousand rubles and confirmed that the plant does not produce cheaper versions. At the same time, both centers announced that Granta is available without dealer additional equipment.
At the same time, dealers sell UAZ Patriot SUVs at prices higher than those indicated in factory price lists.
So, the UAZ dealer in Moscow reports that the 2024 Patriot with a Euro-2 engine can be purchased for 1.73 million rubles (the price on the UAZ official website is 1.58 million rubles). It was said that at a dealership in Volgograd, the Patriot in the same version of the Base ICAR but equipped with air conditioning was offered for sale for 1.8 million rubles, although it was not equipped with dealer options.
Where do discounts come from?
Oleg Moseev, the founder of the Automarketer project, explained that due to the ongoing overstock in the market and the high cost of credit, dealers are forced to sell their cars at a discount and offer gifts. According to him, in this way they are trying to avoid the costs of maintaining excess vehicle stock.
“Dealers need to get rid of these cars. Chinese automakers’ sales plans are higher than what the market can afford at the current price. This situation forces dealers to reduce prices,” Moseev told socialbites.ca.
Since the support of automobile companies is insufficient, dealers are forced to give discounts and gifts in order to sell their stock cars.
“We have entered a long period of “buyers’ market”. This situation will definitely continue this year. In the future, this will depend on how the economic situation, consumer activity will develop and how quickly the National Bank will reduce the lending rate,” concluded Moseev.