Korean carmakers leave also Russia
- Following the conflict between Ukraine and Russia, the USA and the EU decided to apply new economic sanctions against Russia. One of the aspects of these sanctions concerns the automotive industry. Thus, European and Japanese carmakers decided to leave Russia. American carmakers had already left the country a few years ago.
- BMW, Mercedes, Toyota and Nissan therefore ceased production in Russia in March 2022, a month after the beginning of the conflict. Renault, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Stellantis and Volkswagen the following month. At that time, only Russian carmakers (Avtovaz, Moskvitch, UAZ, GAZ), Chinese carmakers and Korean carmakers remained.
- But Korean carmakers stopped production in Russia in October 2022. This decision was undoubtedly difficult to make because the locally produced Hyundai and Kia models were among the best-selling cars in Russia. The Kia Rio sedan was fourth in the Russian market in 2022, the Hyundai Solaris was fifth, and the Hyundai Creta was seventh.
- The Hyundai-Kia group had become one of the largest producers in Russia between 2015 and 2020. The departure of the Koreans from Russia now leaves the market open to Chinese carmakers who will be able to establish themselves massively in Russia, alongside Russian carmakers such as Avtovaz, Moskvitch, UAZ and GAZ. It is to be noted that Moskvitch currently produces Chinese cars under license. This is what could happen with Avtovaz in a few years, because the Russian carmaker regularly lacks financial support to renew its range of vehicles. Renault provided for these needs in 2011, when it took control of Avtovaz, but today everything has to be redone.