Car dealers named car companies that increased prices without waiting for the recycling fee to increase Avilon: car companies started to increase car prices by reducing discounts 09.12.2024, 17:36

With the onset of autumn, most car companies have decided to change their pricing policy in Russia, Renat Tyukteev, deputy general director of new car sales at the Avilon automobile group, told socialbites.ca.

“Some car companies are reducing discounts, while others are increasing sales and retail prices. All major importers are somehow involved in this process and are planning to change sales terms,” ​​Tyukteev said.

Recently AvtoVAZ for the fourth time in a year raised Lada car prices. According to the price lists in September, Moskvich 6 was left without the basic version of Comfort, which will be produced in 2023, so the starting price of the model increased by 64 thousand rubles. By the way, the Chinese brand GAS increased Prices for 100-150 thousand rubles. For models GS3 and GS8. Some models of Geely, Belgee, Chery and UAZ have also increased in price.

There is a flurry of activity in car dealerships: in the first week of September, 38.1 thousand cars were sold in Russia – this is the highest figure in the last five months. reports Experts interviewed by the agency “Autostat” socialbites.ca attribute the high demand to the upcoming increase in recycling fee rates, which will lead to an increase in car prices.

For the same reason, border crossings between Russia and China appeared Major traffic jams: Importers want to import as many cars as possible. Avtodom Group CEO Andrey Olkhovsky believes that the expectation of higher prices due to the new recycling fee will stimulate sales growth until the end of September.

“Since the beginning of autumn, we have seen a greater recovery in demand due to the expectation of an increase in car prices. It is foreseeable that demand will increase by the end of the month,” he said.

What will happen?

Recycling fee in Russia going 70-85% increase.

For engines with a volume of one to two liters, the rate will increase from 300.6 thousand rubles to 556 thousand rubles. If the engine is 2-3 liters or more, the payment almost doubles – from 556 thousand rubles to 2.2 million rubles, depending on the engine size. It is also planned to increase recycling collection by four times the current amount by 2030.

Against the law

The Association of Russian Automobile Dealers (ROAD) believes that the introduction of recycling collection in its current form is actually against the law. This is stated in the organization’s letter to the Minister of Industry and Trade Anton Alikhanov, which was submitted to socialbites.ca. Thus, representatives of the automotive industry draw attention to the recent conclusion of the Accounts Chamber on recycling collection.

“The main problem of the recycling fee is that the objectives defined when it was established do not coincide with the functions that such a fee performs. In terms of the fiscal and regulatory functions of the recycling fee, it is clear that the priority for the state is not to ensure environmental safety as the purpose of the fee formulated in the law determining the recycling fee,” the summary of the Accounts Chamber states.

“According to the law, the recycling fee is levied solely for recycling purposes. Therefore, using it as a vehicle tax is actually against the law,” says ROAD director general Igor Chikin.

How much will prices increase?

After the increase in recycling collection, the price tag for cars should also increase significantly. Experts predict that the average price of cars with an engine capacity of up to three liters will increase by 100-200 thousand rubles in the fall.

“The cost of cars with engines over three litres will increase even more. The price increase will have less impact on brands with deep localisation, where growth will be adaptive rather than forced,” says Avilon’s deputy director Tyukteev.

The interlocutor explains that the prices of some cars will not increase immediately due to the large stocks in the warehouses. So far, the warehouses of dealers and distributors are full of cars purchased before the scrap tax increase.

However, a price increase is inevitable, as foreign companies will have to pass on the costs to the final buyer, and this is confirmed by the current level of margins among automakers. At the same time, price movements can be multifaceted: for some foreign manufacturers, prices can remain the same in cases where sales plans for 2024 are overestimated. A representative of Avilon noted that sales are possible at a slight loss in order to achieve the planned targets and maintain the necessary sales volume.

Auto expert Pyotr Bakanov believes that major car brands do not want to scare their customers sharply by revising their marketing policies. They usually spread price increases over several months.

“One will have to tighten one’s belt and buy a Lada car instead of a foreign one, or look for options on the secondary market, where prices will also increase,” Bakanov believes.

ROAD chairman Igor Chikin believes that increasing the recycling fee will cause some new cars to disappear from the market, adding that cars are already seen as a luxury item and this situation will only get worse.

“After the first phase of the increase in the recycling fee, car sales will fall. This trend will continue until 2030, by which time the market share of new cars will fall from the current 14% to 5-7%,” concluded the ROAD representative.