Right-Hand Drive Car Imports and Market Trends in Russia (2022 Update)

In May 2022 demand for right-hand drive vehicles surged, marking a notable rise when compared with the previous year. Applications for vehicle procurement climbed as well, reflecting growing interest in importing from overseas. Before the 2014 crisis, press coverage noted this shift on socialbites.ca, citing comments from the Drome automotive website’s secretary, Maria Pogrebets.

After ruble stabilization in Russia, analysts described a rare moment when right-hand drive cars looked appealing again to Russian buyers. With shortages and inflated prices at official dealers, interest in used foreign cars from Japan increased accordingly.

For example, the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, once difficult to find at dealerships and priced around 5–6 million rubles in Russia, could be imported from Japan for roughly 3 million rubles. A stronger ruble paired with a cheaper yen made such imports seem attractive.

As Pogrebets noted in an interview with socialbites.ca, the current window offers the opportunity to consider importing a car from Japan. Beyond the favorable exchange rate, demand for used Japanese vehicles rose because supply of three-year-old models from other brands diminished.

Interest also grew in used cars from South Korea, with expectations of further sales growth, according to Drome. The appeal of Korean vehicles is partly due to left-hand drive configurations; however, the Korean market is smaller than Japan’s, and the auction process is less transparent.

The enthusiasm around right-hand drive vehicles persisted for months and continued to grow, according to Alexei, a senior manager at Japan Life, a company that delivers vehicles and manages customs clearance from Japan.

He explained that favorable exchange rates let buyers acquire a more valuable car than last year. Many purchases were intended for private use rather than resale.

“People who had never driven a right-hand drive car before are now actively behind the wheel,” he observed in his discussion with socialbites.ca.

– Alexei, in an interview with socialbites.ca, summarized the trend.

Experts indicated that Land Cruiser Prado models from 2018 and 2019 saw a sharp drop in imports to the Russian market, with demand cooling after their initial introduction. A Prado with a 2.7-liter gasoline engine and up to 50,000 km in the TXL trim could be priced around 3.2 million rubles, with auction estimates near 4.5 out of 5. Toyota RAV4 crossovers were similarly sourced, with a hybrid variant and under 50,000 km projected around 2.4 million rubles, according to industry sources.

Many older models, typically in the 3–5 year range, were selling most briskly. The current window offered favorable customs duties, according to Alexei. The Toyota Corolla sedan led the list of popular used Japanese cars in the Drome listings, averaging 509.6 thousand rubles in May, followed by the Toyota Camry at around 1.4 million rubles, Honda Fit at 617 thousand rubles, Toyota Corolla Fielder at 788.6 thousand rubles, and Toyota RAV4 at about 1.8 million rubles.

The average price of a used Japanese car in May declined by roughly 7 percent from April, while the number of offers rose by about 8 percent. Compared with left-hand drive vehicles of the same age, right-hand drive cars under seven years old remained cheaper on average, at about 1.3 million rubles versus 2.1 million rubles.

Nevertheless, the trend toward right-hand drive imports began in mid-spring and had not yet been fully captured in broader statistics. In the first five months of 2022, roughly 111,000 Japanese cars were sold in the Far Eastern Federal District (about 87.6 percent of the total), down about 30,000 from the previous year when Japanese imports accounted for 86.7 percent, according to data compiled by Avtostat in collaboration with socialbites.ca.

is there a catch

Some caution remained among Japanese dealers. Delivery times for cars from Vladivostok extended from 3–4 weeks to 2–3 months due to backlogs in loading schedules.

A major hurdle for buyers was wiring money to Japan for vehicles not yet seen in person. Alexei of Japan Life noted that payments must go through non-sanctioned banks, and he warned about scammers in this market.

He explained that a common red flag is a price discrepancy: if a large supplier quotes 3 million rubles for a car while others offer the same model exactly at 2 million rubles, buyers should be cautious and investigate further.

When the trend ends

Russian buyers continued to source a sizable portion of the Japanese secondary market, and experts did not expect Japan to ban used-car exports imminently. Maria Pogrebets of Drom.ru observed that many economists anticipated a fall in the exchange rate later in the season, which would complicate imports.

If duties remained in rubles or the exchange rate stayed at current levels, Japanese cars could become more competitive as some brands exited the market or paused deliveries. For the time being, many buyers believed the moment to import a car at a reasonable rate was favorable, given currency movements anticipated over the coming months.

There is a curious note: some Russian buyers were paying car taxes in euros for Japanese imports. If a buyer could secure euros in advance, it helped reduce exposure to currency fluctuations 2–3 months ahead. The trend toward higher imports of right-hand drive cars was expected to continue through at least the end of 2022, according to independent automotive consultant Sergey Burgazliev.

Nonetheless, Burgazliev cautioned against assuming double-digit growth would repeat. He argued that growth would likely be higher than the previous year but not at spring levels, and he doubted that restricting imports in the Far East would shield domestic manufacturers, noting the region’s economy relies heavily on Japanese vehicle imports and related services, including local maintenance for brands like Toyota, Nissan, Honda, and Mazda.