What serious problems await Russians who switched to Chinese cars
- June 13, 2023
- 0
The Russian car market, which has essentially become a Chinese one, leaves consumers no choice. If you want an “official” foreign car, buy a “Chinese”. Or ride LADA
The Russian car market, which has essentially become a Chinese one, leaves consumers no choice. If you want an “official” foreign car, buy a “Chinese”. Or ride LADA models, which still do not meet the quality of foreign products. However, products “made in China” will cause many problems for their owners in the near future.
Chinese automakers literally bombarded us with their new products for every taste and budget. Their market share rose to 46% in May 2023, up from 17% a year earlier. Yes, this is our new reality. Owners of cars of those brands that left Russia began to switch en masse to the “heavenly” automotive industry. And what: it has really grown in quality, cheaper in price, and even with a guarantee. But not everything runs smoothly in this Chinese kingdom. Asian car enthusiasts will soon be faced with a host of unexpected but expected problems. And here’s why.
First of all, taking into account the increase in car sales from China, the export of parts simply does not keep up. Even despite the fact that the representations of Chinese brands shout at everyone about the availability of car parts and consumables. In fact, many of them don’t even have an established parts supply chain. In addition, only a few market players have large warehouses ready to meet the needs of the customers. In some cases, “heavenly” brands don’t even think about it. Their main purpose is to sell cars, and they don’t care about maintenance issues. So it was many years ago and unfortunately the situation has not changed much.
By the way, according to the results of a study from the source “Version”, both stores and car services speak of a lack of components. Of course, self-respecting brands require dealers to have a minimum stock of “consumables” when concluding contracts, but will they “take away” given the surge in Chinese car sales? Not a fact. In addition, hardly anyone now transports spare parts by plane – the number of flights has been sharply reduced, and the delivery process by plane is indecently expensive. The lion’s share of the components delivered to Russia comes by rail, which increases the waiting time. Especially considering that the “piece of iron” is heavily overloaded in such difficult times.
Meanwhile, in Russia, slowly but surely, they began to manufacture their own parts, including for Chinese cars – from brake pads to suspension elements. Yes, only the quality and compliance with standards can raise questions. At least until the “non-original” proves its reliability over many years.
Of course, new cars do not need to be repaired as often as cars that have seen life, but no one has canceled consumables for scheduled maintenance. In addition: there is a risk of an accident, and this is not only the replacement of the “body”, but also the repair of hidden damage. Of course, dealers are obliged to carry out maintenance work within the set time, but whether they can do that is the big question. We and Mercedes were repaired in two with grief, forcing customers to spend not only time and money, but also nerves. What the inexperienced Chinese will offer consumers is anyone’s guess.
However, that’s not all. The worst part is that a number of cars from China, even in the same trim levels, can have completely different part numbers. According to Ilya Plisov, board member of the Russian Union of Autoservices, they are often not interchangeable. The version of the car is the same, but the batches are different. Yes, quite common for the auto industry from China. For example, there may be several types of oil filters for one engine that do not fit on the thread. There are different sizes of crosses and other parts that will fit one machine and not another.
If you want to fix the “wheelbarrow” on the side, it’s not a fact that it will work out. What can I say if independent service stations do not even have original spare parts catalogs. This is also a trick of Chinese manufacturers, who deliberately do not provide access to car services to the component base, so that customers sequentially crawl to official dealers, where, as already mentioned, repairs threaten to become a waste of time, and at the same time it will turn out incredibly expensive. If the car owners who drive on the “Chinese” can be helped there at all.
Photo: AvtoVzglyad
Photo: AvtoVzglyad
Chinese automakers literally bombarded us with their new products for every taste and budget. Their market share rose to 46% in May 2023, up from 17% a year earlier. Yes, this is our new reality. Owners of cars of those brands that left Russia began to switch en masse to the “heavenly” automotive industry. And what: it has really grown in quality, cheaper in price, and even with a guarantee. But not everything runs smoothly in this Chinese kingdom. Asian car enthusiasts will soon be faced with a host of unexpected but expected problems. And here’s why.
First of all, taking into account the increase in car sales from China, the export of parts simply does not keep up. Even despite the fact that the representations of Chinese brands shout at everyone about the availability of car parts and consumables. In fact, many of them don’t even have an established parts supply chain. In addition, only a few market players have large warehouses ready to meet the needs of the customers. In some cases, “heavenly” brands don’t even think about it. Their main purpose is to sell cars, and they don’t care about maintenance issues. So it was many years ago and unfortunately the situation has not changed much.
By the way, according to the results of a study from the source “Version”, both stores and car services speak of a lack of components. Of course, self-respecting brands require dealers to have a minimum stock of “consumables” when concluding contracts, but will they “take away” given the surge in Chinese car sales? Not a fact. In addition, hardly anyone now transports spare parts by plane – the number of flights has been sharply reduced, and the delivery process by plane is indecently expensive. The lion’s share of the components delivered to Russia comes by rail, which increases the waiting time. Especially considering that the “piece of iron” is heavily overloaded in such difficult times.
Meanwhile, in Russia, slowly but surely, they began to manufacture their own parts, including for Chinese cars – from brake pads to suspension elements. Yes, only the quality and compliance with standards can raise questions. At least until the “non-original” proves its reliability over many years.
Of course, new cars do not need to be repaired as often as cars that have seen life, but no one has canceled consumables for scheduled maintenance. In addition: there is a risk of an accident, and this is not only the replacement of the “body”, but also the repair of hidden damage. Of course, dealers are obliged to carry out maintenance work within the set time, but whether they can do that is the big question. We and Mercedes were repaired in two with grief, forcing customers to spend not only time and money, but also nerves. What the inexperienced Chinese will offer consumers is anyone’s guess.
However, that’s not all. The worst part is that a number of cars from China, even in the same trim levels, can have completely different part numbers. According to Ilya Plisov, board member of the Russian Union of Autoservices, they are often not interchangeable. The version of the car is the same, but the batches are different. Yes, quite common for the auto industry from China. For example, there may be several types of oil filters for one engine that do not fit on the thread. There are different sizes of crosses and other parts that will fit one machine and not another.
If you want to fix the “wheelbarrow” on the side, it’s not a fact that it will work out. What can I say if independent service stations do not even have original spare parts catalogs. This is also a trick of Chinese manufacturers, who deliberately do not provide access to car services to the component base, so that customers sequentially crawl to official dealers, where, as already mentioned, repairs threaten to become a waste of time, and at the same time it will turn out incredibly expensive. If the car owners who drive on the “Chinese” can be helped there at all.
Source: Avto Vzglyad
Donald Salinas is an experienced automobile journalist and writer for Div Bracket. He brings his readers the latest news and developments from the world of automobiles, offering a unique and knowledgeable perspective on the latest trends and innovations in the automotive industry.
