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The long New Year holidays are over and this made it possible to finally summarize the results of the work of the Russian automotive industry over the past
As the Ministry of Industry and Trade recently reported, sales of new cars of all types and classes in Russia amounted to 1,319,351 units, which is 60% more than last year. Half of this is produced domestically. If we take passenger cars separately, things appear even more optimistic at first glance. According to the Autostat agency, Russian drivers bought 1,058.7 new cars last year. So growth was 69% compared to the completely disastrous 2022.
It seems like everything is looking quite optimistic. However, there is one problem that, if it does not destroy all the achievements of the automotive industry, greatly spoils its impression. The AutoVzglyad portal has written about it several times, but still no progress has been made in solving it. We are of course talking about our own production and the localization of components.
Fate gave Russia a unique opportunity to overcome the indifference and devilish slowness of the thinking of officials, when all foreign companies at once left the domestic market. It seems like this is a precious opportunity to restore sovereignty in the auto industry. Invest money, develop Russian enterprises, strive to build all technological chains on your native land, without the participation of foreign manufacturers.
But it wasn’t there. Instead of truly pursuing import substitution, our industry leaders began courting Chinese companies as eagerly as they had previously courted European, Japanese, and Korean companies. And even those few car parts that are located at least in the Russian Federation are produced from “heavenly” components. Using your head is a great job. It is easier to mindlessly follow a path once trodden.
For two years now, Russia has been in “self-isolation” from the world’s biggest concerns. This is a huge period – in two years you can move mountains if you work hard and purposefully and do not feign vigorous activity. But we have what we have now. By the end of 2023, 51% of the market was occupied by Chinese brands, while Russian brands occupied only 33%. Moreover, this second figure does not fully reflect the shameful position of the domestic automotive industry, as it includes both Moskvich and Evolut, which are in fact products of badge engineering, hiding the same Chinese JACs under Russian logos and Dongfeng.
If you look at it, only AVTOVAZ is fighting for the honor of the country, which accounts for 30.6% of the market – that is, almost the entire volume of domestic production. And further down the rankings are the ‘Chinese’ who have formed two clear attacking teams. The first includes Chery, Haval and Geely, which moved from second to fourth place, gaining 11.2%, 10.6% and 8.8% respectively. The second group is compactly located in the fifth to seventh lines – Changan, Exeed, Omoda – with market shares of 4.5%, 4.0% and 4.0%.
And what is characteristic: with the exception of Haval, not a single brand from the mentioned “six” produces its cars here in Russia, but prefers to import them in finished form. The Chinese walk around, sniff around, try things on, but are in no hurry to open production facilities.
The TOP-10 brands are completed by the completely deflated “Koreans” and the only “Japanese” – Kia, Hyundai and Toyota retained a total of 7.7% of the new car market. We can confidently predict that they will fall out of the top ten entirely next year without the slightest chance of return.
The monopoly position of AVTOVAZ and Chinese manufacturers, as well as the colossal undersaturation of the car market, naturally led to an increase in the cost of cars. For example, the weighted average price of passenger cars reached 3.006 million rubles in November. In just 5 years they have doubled in price! It is true that the lack of reciprocal wage growth forced the industry to stagnate; Since September, its development has virtually come to a standstill. This forced manufacturers to meet the buyer halfway, but none of them started talking about lowering prices. They got away with promotions, specials, discounts and other short-term nonsense, which somewhat revived sales.
Let’s note for ourselves that as soon as the price of cars rises, they will not become cheaper. Therefore, it is difficult to predict in 2024 the same rapid growth of the Russian market as in this year – God grant that it actually grows at least a little.
As the Ministry of Industry and Trade recently reported, sales of new cars of all types and classes in Russia amounted to 1,319,351 units, which is 60% more than last year. Half of this is produced domestically. If we take passenger cars separately, things appear even more optimistic at first glance. According to the Autostat agency, Russian drivers bought 1,058.7 new cars last year. So growth was 69% compared to the completely disastrous 2022.
It seems like everything is looking quite optimistic. However, there is one problem that, if it does not destroy all the achievements of the automotive industry, greatly spoils its impression. The AutoVzglyad portal has written about it several times, but still no progress has been made in solving it. We are of course talking about our own production and the localization of components.
Fate gave Russia a unique opportunity to overcome the indifference and devilish slowness of the thinking of officials, when all foreign companies at once left the domestic market. It seems like this is a precious opportunity to restore sovereignty in the auto industry. Invest money, develop Russian enterprises, strive to build all technological chains on your native soil, without the participation of foreign manufacturers.
But it wasn’t there. Instead of truly pursuing import substitution, our industry leaders began courting Chinese companies as eagerly as they had previously courted European, Japanese, and Korean companies. And even those few car parts that are located at least in the Russian Federation are produced from “heavenly” components. Using your head is a great job. It is easier to mindlessly follow a path once trodden.
For two years now, Russia has been in “self-isolation” from the world’s biggest concerns. This is a huge period – in two years you can move mountains if you work hard and purposefully and do not feign vigorous activity. But we have what we have now. By the end of 2023, 51% of the market was occupied by Chinese brands, while Russian brands occupied only 33%. Moreover, this second figure does not fully reflect the shameful position of the domestic automotive industry, as it includes both Moskvich and Evolut, which are in fact products of badge engineering, hiding the same Chinese JACs under Russian logos and Dongfeng.
If you look at it, only AVTOVAZ is fighting for the honor of the country, which accounts for 30.6% of the market – that is, almost the entire volume of domestic production. And further down the rankings are the ‘Chinese’ who have formed two clear attacking teams. The first includes Chery, Haval and Geely, which moved from second to fourth place, gaining 11.2%, 10.6% and 8.8% respectively. The second group is compactly located in the fifth to seventh lines – Changan, Exeed, Omoda – with market shares of 4.5%, 4.0% and 4.0%.
And what is characteristic: with the exception of Haval, not a single brand from the mentioned “six” produces its cars here in Russia, but prefers to import them in finished form. The Chinese walk around, sniff around, try things on, but are in no hurry to open production facilities.
The TOP-10 brands are completed by the completely deflated “Koreans” and the only “Japanese” – Kia, Hyundai and Toyota retained a total of 7.7% of the new car market. We can confidently predict that they will fall out of the top ten entirely next year without the slightest chance of return.
The monopoly position of AVTOVAZ and Chinese manufacturers, as well as the colossal undersaturation of the car market, naturally led to an increase in the cost of cars. For example, the weighted average price of passenger cars reached 3.006 million rubles in November. In just 5 years they have doubled in price! It is true that the lack of reciprocal wage growth forced the industry to stagnate; Since September, its development has virtually come to a standstill. This forced manufacturers to meet the buyer halfway, but none of them started talking about lowering prices. They got away with promotions, specials, discounts and other short-term nonsense, which somewhat revived sales.
Let’s note for ourselves that as soon as the price of cars rises, they will not become cheaper. Therefore, it is difficult to predict in 2024 the same rapid growth of the Russian market as in this year – God grant that it actually grows at least a little.
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.
