Why Russia may soon even run out of Chinese cars

European and Japanese brands, shocked to the knees by Uncle Sam, stormed away from the wealthy feeder called Russia. They thought the rest would follow their lead, but they miscalculated – Chinese companies didn’t even think about curtailing their business. The AvtoVzglyad portal plunged into a stream of hatred and threats that rushed to the Celestial Empire.

Realizing that you are out in the cold is always very disappointing. Especially if you consider yourself great, exceptional, unsurpassed, and so on in the same vein. When Western companies cowardly fled the Russian market, they had no doubt that absolutely everyone would do the same. Therefore, they sacrificed their business not only with a light heart, but without moans and wringing hands. As the nameless general of the Wehrmacht said in T. Lioznova’s film: “It’s scary to die alone. In a crowd – nothing, you can even joke.

And who are the suckers here?

In reality, however, it turned out that hardened Western businessmen exposed themselves as complete morons, simply giving away a fairly large Russian car market to others and not even getting moral satisfaction from it. This cannot be forgiven, it is necessary to roughly punish the insolent people who spoiled the dream. And now Bloomberg, the world’s largest provider of financial information headquartered in New York, is shaking its fist at a part of the world from which a harmonious chorus of voices chants: “Long live the Chinese Communist Party and its General Secretary, Comrade Xi Jinping! »

Bloomberg is deeply outraged: “While Western companies, from Apple Inc. before Sony Corp., BP Plc and McDonald’s Corp. Withdrew from Russia in the early days of the economic sanctions and consumer pressures that quickly followed the war, many Chinese companies continue to operate there with impunity. President Xi Jinping supported Vladimir Putin and Chinese companies are not threatened by a negative reaction from consumers at home.”

It is also not possible, this is a violation of the rules that the West, after consulting with itself, has made mandatory for the whole world and, incidentally, spat on its cherished consumers. Such immoral behavior of the Chinese contrasts sharply with the completely correct act of Renault, which initially did not want to leave Russia in general.

However, after harsh criticism from Volodymyr Zelensky, it relented, ceasing all activity in its second-largest market and writing off $2.4 billion in assets. You should take that as an example, you stupid Chinese! – the correspondent of the aforementioned US agency instructs the renegades, completely without thinking about the basis on which the “green nit” can dictate its will to a car concern under the jurisdiction of another country.

Sanctions for circumventing sanctions

After such an escapade, Bloomberg turns to direct threats. “While Chinese automakers have so far managed to avoid retaliation, a continued presence in Russia could highlight their ties to global partners that threaten to tarnish their reputation.” The Geely company is chosen as the peer to beat, which occupies very good positions in sales in Russia.

She is shown the pain points that will be hit: she drives Volvo Car and Polestar, works with Google and Waymo. The founder Li Shufu is one of the largest shareholders of Mercedes-Benz Group and Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings. And all of these brands are theoretically and practically threatened with sanctions for circumventing sanctions. Great Wall and Chery, who are also very active in the Russian market, were able to escape the sight of sanctions fanatics, as they are little known in Europe or the United States. But that won’t save them in the end either.

Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a professor at the Yale School of Management, elaborates on the threat: “The greatest success of Chinese companies in Russia pales in comparison to their worst failed collaboration.”

Associate Professor of Sinology at Heidelberg University with a typical German name and surname – a certain Marina Rudyak – does not doubt the inescapable love of Europeans for Ukraine: “I think this was the biggest surprise for China. Our gas prices have doubled, which is very difficult for many. But China and Russia did not expect the EU countries to be ready for this.”

And I’m a fool, a fool!

Bloomberg representatives tried to contact Chery, Geely and Great Wall by phone and email to learn how scary the next U.S. warning is for them. But requests for comment from these companies were simply ignored. Volvo Car and Mercedes also said they did not understand what it was about and did not comment on the actions of other companies.

Of course, if the Americans get down to business, they can spoil Russian-Chinese cooperation. But so far their moaning about the West screwing up on its own while others didn’t fall for it is downright ridiculous.

Here we recall an old anecdote about how Ivan the Fool refused to spend the night with Baba Yaga’s granddaughter, and in the morning he saw a dazzling beauty.

– Who are you?

“I am the granddaughter of Baba Yaga. And who are you?

– I’m a fool, a fool!