Russian truck market: KamAZ remains the leader

The truck market continues to recover from the crisis. At the same time, according to the results of May, sales of a number of Chinese brands have already approached the volumes of the traditional leader of the segment, KamAZ. KamAZ plans to increase its share by launching its first heavy dump truck based on the K5 generation on the market in June, taking advantage of the growing demand in this segment. KamAZ hopes for the market to grow in 2023 to a record 100,000 trucks in recent years. Analysts predict 90-95 thousand, noting that the drivers of demand are construction and logistics.

According to the results of May, sales of trucks increased by 2.6 times, up to 11.3 thousand units, calculated “Autostat”. The top 5 included mainly brands from China: Sitrak (2.1 thousand units), Shacman (1.4 thousand units), Faw (1 thousand units) and Howo (624 units). But KamAZ remained the leader of the segment, sales of which increased by 76% to 2.8 thousand vehicles, the agency reports.

The demand for trucks (tractors, dump trucks, vans, etc.) is growing steadily and the supply of these types of vehicles is also increasing, says Ilya Molchanov, head of the Kotlyakovka Auto Special Center, noting the growth in customer loyalty to Chinese brands. “In previous months, we recorded an increased demand for 4×2 mainline tractors, as well as 6×4 tractors. Now there is a noticeable decrease in demand for dump trucks due to the seasonality of sales. For vans (from 3 to 12 tons), demand remains, as this segment is not sufficiently covered by supplies,” he concludes.

Based on the data of Avtostat, the share of KamAZ in the market was 25% – a similar situation was in the first quarter (see Fig. “Kommersant” dated April 12). However, KamAZ evaluates its market share differently – at 28-30% of its main segment of vehicles with a carrying capacity of more than 14 tons. Autostat also takes into account lighter cars in its statistics.

At KamAZ, Kommersant was told that they were aiming to increase their market share: the main segments where demand is now concentrated are mainline tractors and heavy dump trucks.

KamAZ already produces tractors of the K5 generation, but in June it will also enter the segment of heavy dump trucks with a machine based on the K5 chassis, the company said. They estimate that heavy trucks now account for up to two-thirds of this segment, a record share. The main drivers of demand in this segment are housing construction, according to KamAZ.

At the end of 2023, the market for heavy trucks (over 14 tons), according to the forecast of KamAZ, “for the first time since 2007, will exceed 100 thousand vehicles.” In the pre-crisis 2021, the company estimated the market at 79 thousand units, and in 2022 it decreased by 5%, to 75 thousand units. The plan for the production of KamAZ for 2023 is 44 thousand trucks. “So far we are striving to go higher, but it is very difficult,” said the head of the concern, Sergei Kogogin, on June 1 (quoted by RIA Novosti).

The truck market is recovering at a fairly active pace, says Dmitry Babansky from SBS Consulting. It is affected by the effect of the low base of 2022, when the market stagnated amid the crisis and only the share of the European Seven was replaced by manufacturers from China, he continues. In his opinion, the result of 2023 will be higher than the result of the pre-crisis 2021, the main drivers of demand are indeed construction and logistics. The analyst considers the forecast of 100,000 heavy trucks sold to be “optimistic”, relying on volumes of 90,000-95,000 units.

Olga Nikitina