Dump trucks rush to the construction site – Newspaper Kommersant No. 63 (7508) dated 04/12/2023

The Russian truck market grew by more than 20% in the first quarter. KamAZ retains its leadership, but its share has decreased from 40% to 25%. The remaining places in the top 5 were occupied by brands from China, they are also in the lead in terms of demand for Avito Auto. Dealers say that sales of trucks from China are fueled by the appreciation of the yuan – stocks at the old prices have already been contracted. In terms of cost, domestic trucks win, but market participants talk about the insufficient volume of their supply.

According to Avtostat, in the first quarter, sales of trucks in Russia grew by 20.9% year-on-year, to 26.7 thousand vehicles. In March, compared with the low base of the first month after the outbreak of hostilities in Ukraine, the market increased by 51.3%, to 11.3 thousand units. The leader remains KamAZ, which occupied 25% of the market in January-March, but its share a year earlier was 40.3%.

Along with the reduction in the share of KamAZ, the influence of Chinese brands is growing.

So, 15.2% of sales are accounted for by Sitrak, which was not presented on the market a year earlier, another 13.5% by Shacman, FAW – 8.9%, Howo – 6.8%.

Compared to the end of 2022, according to Avito Auto, the demand for new trucks increased by 2.4%, for used trucks by 5.2%. The average price of used cars in January-March amounted to 1.7 million rubles, new ones – 9.2 million rubles. In the latter segment, the greatest demand fell on Chinese-made models: the top 5 included three models from China at once.

Ilya Molchanov, General Director of Avtospetstsentr Kotlyakovka (comtrans), notes that in the first quarter, due to the large number of days off, a traditionally low level of demand was recorded. “This year, due to the absence of European brands on the market and their replacement by Chinese ones, the influence of the Chinese New Year has been added. As a result, most of the shipments that took place in January-March are deals closed back in 2022,” he explains. At the same time, the demand for equipment is growing now, Mr. Molchanov says: “Against the background of the growth of the yuan, equipment that was bought at a lower rate is snapped up.” The greatest demand is for 4×2 main tractors, he adds, and dump trucks (8×4 and 6×4), which are traditionally needed in the spring before the start of quarries.

Demand for dump trucks is also observed at Avito Auto. In the first quarter, the service most often requested sellers’ contacts for the Shacman (Shaanxi) X3000 model – it accounted for 12% of the total demand for new trucks. Models of domestic KamAZ occupy the second and third lines. Shacman X3000 will cost an average of 9.5 million rubles, KamAZ 43,118 – 10.1 million rubles, KamAZ 65,115 – 8.7 million rubles. Among the new offers, dump trucks FAW CA3310 (2.8% of contact requests) and Howo T5G 8×4 (2.7%) were also in active demand with average prices of 8.2 million and 9.8 million rubles. respectively. Also in the top is Sitrak C7H and Howo HW76 (tractor or dump truck). Note that the same models are included in the top sales according to Avtostat. Chinese brands accounted for almost 80% of the dump truck market, 64.1% of the truck tractor segment and 58.1% of construction equipment, according to NAPI in January-February.

Europlan LC says that the demand for trucks continues to remain stable, slightly exceeding last year’s figures, but noticeably better than the results of the first quarter of 2021.

“At the same time, despite the launched program of preferential leasing, which involved the purchase of new vehicles with a subsidy, the issuance of used trucks in the first quarter of 2023 increased by 56% compared to the first quarter of 2021, but the issuance of new equipment – by only 21% ‘, they say. The lessor adds: “KamAZ remains the leader in terms of sales, which is associated with maintaining an affordable price, but Chinese trucks have come close to it.” As Kommersant wrote on April 11now funds for preferential leasing have been exhausted and the government is discussing restarting the program for trucks.

The general director of Zavod KDM LLC (engaged in the production of municipal vehicles) Olga Solovieva notes that the demand for trucks in the first quarter of 2023 was very high, as the construction season begins. The company increased sales of road and municipal vehicles based on domestic and Chinese chassis by 20%. The main reasons are the construction of new roads in new regions, the withdrawal of European cars from the market and the difficulty in maintaining them. 55% of the chassis on which the company now produces equipment is KamAZ, 28% of the chassis is MAZ, 17% is Chinese brands. “We are seeing an increase in the popularity of MAZ trucks,” says Ms. Solovieva.

There are no difficulties with the availability of equipment for import, the only question is the time of delivery, says Ilya Molchanov. At the same time, a number of Kommersant’s sources on the market point out that the availability of Russian brands is really worse, which leads to a reduction in the share. KamAZ previously said that sales statistics do not reflect “supplies to federal customers and new territories.”

Olga Nikitina