German cars continue to be sold in Russia… but come from China
- We have seen that Western economic sanctions against Russia (following the outbreak of the war between Russia and Ukraine) had notably resulted in the departure of European, Japanese and Korean automobile brands from the Russian market in 2022 and the massive arrival of Chinese automobile brands to offset the departures. After the liquidation of most of the stocks of European, Japanese and Korean cars, Chinese brands have continued to grow in the Russian market, today reaching an overall market share of 61% at the end of July 2024 (521,086 units over the first 7 months of 2024).
- The share of Russian automobile brands (first and foremost Avtovaz, Moskvitch and UAZ) currently stands at 31% of the Russian market (263,883 units over the first 7 months of 2024), which therefore leaves 8% of the market distributed between European (24,282 units including 16,330 German), Japanese (21,164 units) and Korean (17,616 units) cars.
- How is this possible? It is likely that a small part comes from still available stocks and vehicles produced in Russia without the agreement of the brands in question, but according to an investigation carried out by a former German member of the Bundestag, a large number of these cars available on the Russian market come from Chinese factories, notably from Volkswagens (through the Chinese subsidiaries SAIC and FAW), and this probably without the agreement of the carmaker. Despite Volkswagen's denial, the Jetta, ID6, Talagon, Tavendor and Tayron are sold by thousands in Russia. However, these models are only produced in China! This situation is certainly repeated at BMW, Mercedes and Audi, but it is more difficult to identify them because the models of these brands produced in China are the same as those produced in Germany.