Chinese cars have not reached popularity – Kommersant FM

The most popular car brands among Russians from January to September were the Russian Lada, the Korean Kia and the Japanese Toyota. This is stated in a study by the SberAuto service. Its experts analyzed summary data on new and used cars. Among the models, the most popular were Lada Granta, Hyundai Solaris and Kia Rio.

Experts note that in some cities, new cars were on average sold cheaper than used ones. This situation was recorded in Nizhny Novgorod and Samara. At the same time, Korean and Japanese cars have surpassed Chinese ones in demand. This is due to the large base of used cars in the country, says Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine:

“Chinese cars have not yet gained serious traction on the Russian market. There are more than 40 million passenger cars in the country, and the volume of cars from China that have been sold over the past two to three years still has little effect on the overall statistics. In 2023, there will be about 1 million new cars sold, and more than 4 million used cars, maybe even 5 million.

Of course, there are many more Lada, Kia and Hyundai cars on the market now. And if we consider both new and used, then these are the brands in the first roles. And if you look only at the new ones, then the situation is different: Lada Granta is in first place, then comes Niva Travel, and then Chery Tiggo 7. Behind it in the ranking are Haval Jolion, three-door Niva and LadaVesta.

That is, the Chinese have not yet acquired a large overall volume of cars, because in 2021 the share of new “Chinese” in the Russian market was only 6.8%. So far, the number of Chinese cars sold does not have a very strong impact on the overall fleet.”

The fact that in some cities used cars were on average more expensive than new ones in the period from January to September is due to the range of automotive products offered. At the same time, situations cannot be ruled out when in certain regions cars of the same brands and models may differ slightly in price.

So for those who want to save on purchasing vehicles, sometimes it makes sense to buy a car in neighboring regions, says Dmitry Chumakov, CEO of the Vector Market Research agency:

“The main reason why it seems that used cars are more expensive is due to the fact that in the cities where this phenomenon has arisen, a significant share is accounted for by Russian Lada cars. That is, due to the fact that the average cost of new cars, due to the large share of AvtoVAZ, becomes quite low, it is more correct to separately compare Russian-made cars with a separate segment of foreign cars. Moreover, in my opinion, it is also correct to divide foreign cars into certain classes and segments.

In general, there is no fundamental difference in prices for new cars between Russian cities. Yes, locally there are situations where in some cities there is more supply, and in some cities, on the contrary, cars of a popular brand are running out, and, accordingly, some distortions may occur.

But in general, now the price level for almost all professional market participants has stabilized. Therefore, it is useful to see what prices are currently current at different dealership centers in different cities. But if we take the largest segments in terms of capacity, then the price level is quite even.”

The most popular car in Moscow in the first nine months was the Skoda Octavia. At the same time, in the capital the average cost of new cars was 2.6 million rubles, with used cars – 1.4 million rubles.

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Andrey Zagorsky