The Ministry of Industry and Trade wants to change the approach to the localization of electronics for the automotive industry

The Ministry of Industry and Trade wants to change the approach to the localization of electronics for the automotive industry. It is proposed to increase the number of localization points awarded for operations already performed on the assembly of engine control units for two years, and from 2026 – to sharply reduce if domestic components are not used. Automotive companies need points to return recycling collection. A number of Kommersant’s sources in the auto industry see the risk of depreciation of already ongoing operations, and also point to the impossibility of influencing third-party suppliers of components that are loaded with orders from other industries. But other market participants prefer not to fuss, emphasizing that a lot can change in two years.

Kommersant’s sources in the market told us that the Ministry of Industry and Trade wants to revise the localization requirements under Resolution 719 for auto electronics, including engine electronic control units (ECUs). According to the new approach, starting from 2026, automakers will begin to be deprived of some localization points if Russian microelectronics are not used. Access to government support and the amount of returned recycling collection depend on the points. ECUs are produced not by car manufacturers, but by third-party suppliers. The Ministry of Industry and Trade confirmed to Kommersant the work on a new system of requirements for ECUs.

A total of 300 points can now be obtained for the engine ECU. For the most popular in the industry after the departure of Bosch, the Itelma ECU, the concerns score 150 points (75 points each for surface mounting of components on a printed circuit board, as well as software development and obtaining rights to design documentation). Before the outbreak of hostilities, a Kommersant source says, the ECU gave 225 points, but automakers lost 75 points due to the fact that the supplier’s cost of imported components increased.

In the new version of the rules, you can get 200 points for assembly and rights to software and design documentation, which “increases the attractiveness” of using Russian ECUs, three Kommersant interlocutors say. But from 2026, the approach changes: you will need to use Russian components (chips, printed circuit boards, etc.), for which additional points are awarded. Otherwise, points for operations already performed are reduced: from 2026 – to 100 points instead of 200, from 2028 – to 75 points.

Kommersant’s interlocutors in the auto industry do not see the logic in devaluing previous work, fearing the spread of the approach to other components. As Kommersant wrote on May 29, the Ministry of Industry and Trade already wanted to reduce the points awarded for welding and painting (the discussion on this issue is now frozen, Kommersant’s sources clarified).

One of Kommersant’s interlocutors believes that the auto industry is simply charged with financial responsibility (in the form of non-return of recycling fees) for the creation of a component industry: “Fiscal measures will not lead to an increase in localization, but on the contrary, it will be more profitable for automakers to buy a component in China, and the lost recycling fee will be inevitably translated into price for the end buyer.”

The Ministry of Industry and Trade calls their ideas “a mechanism for motivating and stimulating the localization of automakers, ECU and microelectronics manufacturers.” General Director of NPP ITELMA Alexey Vorobyov does not see the risk that from 2026, automakers will not have access to Russian ECUs that meet the new criteria of Resolution 719. According to him, there are already suppliers: “They make high-quality and reliable components. But their use requires special testing and validation. We are carrying out such activities and will begin producing units with Russian components after we confirm the reliability and safety of the control unit using them.”

Kommersant’s interlocutor among component manufacturers confirms that in the Russian Federation there are microelectronics suitable for the automotive industry, including printed circuit boards, but “somewhere there are problems with quality, somewhere there is a large order from the military or an industry with higher margins ” He also points out the need for such manufacturers to comply with quality management systems in the automotive industry: “Safety depends on the electronics in the car.”

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is considering deepening the localization of auto electronics as a way to stimulate the demand of ECU manufacturers for Russian components, as well as textolite, Kommersant sources in the specialized market say. So, judging by the data from the presentation of the Automotive Components and Telematics Consortium ANO from February of this year (available to Kommersant), if at the end of 2022 the need of domestic ECU manufacturers for Russian printed circuit boards was 3.2 sq. dm, then by 2030 this figure, if the requirements of Resolution 719 are tightened, should increase to 10–12 square meters. dm.

But the top manager of Kommersant at a large computer equipment manufacturer emphasizes that now there are practically no Russian printed circuit boards (they are produced, for example, by Rezonit, Tekhnotech, etc.) on the civilian market: “Most of the production goes to the defense sector.” .

Kommersant’s interlocutor in the auto industry suggests taking a philosophical approach to the changes: “Nobody knows what will happen in 2026, but for now the number of points for ECUs is really growing.” In general, he notes, the Ministry of Industry and Trade believes that localization does not work through incentives alone, while in 2026 it is enough to use only one microelectronic component from the Russian Federation to save points.

AvtoVAZ and KamAZ did not answer Kommersant. GAZ says that since 2018 they have been advocating for speedy localization and for this purpose incentive measures should be launched. “Two years ago, a well-thought-out mechanism to support the introduction of radio electronics appeared (Resolution 1619), but it has not yet started working. It is necessary to launch such mechanisms not only in radio electronics, but for all critical components, including subcomponents, the appearance of which the auto industry cannot control in any way,” the company believes.

Haval supports the initiative to develop the auto components industry in the Russian Federation, adding that it is important to adhere to the principles of consistency and phased introduction of new requirements so that car and component manufacturers have enough time to adapt and establish business processes. Sollers notes that there is no final version of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s project yet, so “it is premature to comment on anything.”

Olga Nikitina, Nikita Korolev