Eastern threat: what Chinese car buyers risk
The large number of Chinese car brands on our market may lead to a number of problems and difficulties that car buyers will face. The number of car dealerships may decrease, and diagnosis of faults is already causing certain difficulties, dealers note. At the same time, prices for cars from China continue to grow, emphasize car sellers. Details - in the material "Izvestia".
How bad is a large assortment
According to the Association "Russian Automobile Dealers" (ROAD), last year the share of traditional Russian automobile brands in the segment of new passenger cars and light commercial models accounted for 36% of the total volume of cars sold. This was reported by Alexey Podshchekoldin, President of ROAD, at a press conference. Cars assembled at Russian factories in partnership with automakers from the People's Republic of China took 4%, and their share doubled compared to 2023, he noted. The main part of the market (53%) is occupied by Chinese car models, the remaining 7% came from parallel imports.
- Now there are more than 65 brands of Chinese companies on our market. On the one hand, a large choice is not bad. The problem is that the sales of most of these models are in hundreds, and in some cases dozens of cars per year: many people do not even know how to pronounce or spell the name of their car. Buying such models and their subsequent operation is fraught with certain risks: there may be difficulties in finding spare parts, servicing "exotics" and its further sale," warned Alexey Podshchekoldin.
He cited Lifan, which has left Russia, as an example. According to him, there are about 120 thousand cars of this brand on the roads of our country now, and spare parts for them can no longer be found. Owners of other Chinese cars, whose prospects in our country are rather vague, may face a similar problem. According to the president of ROAD, brands that sell less than 1 thousand cars a year in our country are at risk: in this case the business becomes simply unprofitable.
Alexey Podshchekoldin did not name the brands that are potential "candidates for departure". However, according to Avtostat-Info, last year with the result of less than 1 thousand sold (registered) cars such officially represented in Russia brands as Suzuki (799 cars), Oting (690 cars), MG (642 units), Forting and Ora (500 units each), Citroen (291 cars), Peugeot (267 units), Skywell (210 cars), AmberAuto (149 units) and Haima (58 cars) finished the last year.
In addition to the potential reduction in the number of car brands represented in our country, the head of ROAD predicts a reduction in the number of dealerships. In his opinion, they may become less by about 100. This is primarily due to the oversaturation of car dealerships in major cities, because of which dealers of one brand have to compete with each other for the buyer, said Alexei Podshchekoldin.
Find and eliminate the fault
A serious problem faced by car dealers, which ultimately falls on the shoulders of owners of cars from the PRC, is the difficulty in diagnosing and eliminating faults, said the president of ROAD. According to him, employees of technical centers complain about the lack of equipment for diagnostics of Chinese cars and the absence of structured electronic catalogs of spare parts for them.
- Often even troubleshooting a fault on a model from China causes serious difficulties, as automakers are extremely reluctant to provide diagnostic equipment and necessary software for technical centers. Current Russian legislation does not oblige them to provide dealerships with access to the relevant equipment and technical information. We have repeatedly drawn the government's attention to this problem," said Alexey Podshchekoldin.
Because of this, the repair of a Chinese car often takes much longer compared to the former terms of troubleshooting on European, Japanese, Korean models, he noted. As a result, end consumers suffer.
The problem of constant updating and modernization of their cars by Chinese carmakers is superimposed on the lack of the necessary amount of technical information, says Alexey Podshchekoldin. This also leads to longer repair times.
- It is not uncommon that a particular part simply does not fit the car, because in the course of modernization the places of fasteners have been changed or the shape of the part has changed. Very often this information is not displayed anywhere at all. It comes to the point where you have to order a part not from the catalog, but from a photo," he said.
Save your money
It is becoming increasingly difficult for Russians to buy both new and used cars, said Alexei Podshchekoldin. According to ROAD, over the past 10 years, despite the average salary more than doubling, it takes significantly longer to save up to buy a passenger car.
- If in 2014 the average salary in Russia amounted to 34 thousand rubles, by 2024 it has grown to 80 thousand rubles. And if 10 years ago it was necessary to put aside 30 salaries to buy an average car, now it is already 41 salaries," Podshchekoldin said.
To buy a used car a Russian in 2024 needed 17 salaries, while in 2014 - 11, he noted. At the same time, according to his forecasts, during 2025 prices for cars will increase by another 10-15%. The main growth will be on imported models, as they are more dependent on the fluctuations of the ruble exchange rate, as well as on customs duties, duties and other mandatory payments, says Alexei Podshchekoldin.
On the example of the Chinese sedan Jetta VA3, the head of ROAD told what the price of an imported car on our market is made up of. Thus, the price of this car in China is equal to about Br900 thousand at the exchange rate, which is only 35% of its cost in Russia. Another 40% (Br1.03 million) accounts for customs duty (Br8.5 thousand), as well as customs duty (Br135 thousand), VAT (Br209 thousand), excise duty (Br8.7 thousand) and utilization fee (Br667.4 thousand). In addition, 14% of the cost of the car in Russia includes delivery (Br350 thousand), 6% - distributor's margin (Br160 thousand) and 5% - dealer's margin (Br120 thousand). As a result, the cost of this car in Russia rises to Br2.56 million for the end consumer, said Alexei Podshchekoldin.
Dangerous exotics
The interviewed experts agree that the abundance of Chinese car brands on the market, a significant part of which has no official representative offices in Russia, carries significant risks for buyers. According to Anton Shaparin, Vice-President of the National Automobile Union (NAU), the purchase of automobile "exotics" has always been associated with certain difficulties. In the case of Chinese models they become even more. At the same time, dealers bring such cars themselves, without thinking about how they will be serviced by the owners, the expert emphasized.
- The same Alfa Romeo, in a sense, gives the owner certain troubles with the search for spare parts, maintenance, etc. However, despite the fact that this brand left Russia more than 10 years ago, technical centers where it can be repaired and serviced still exist, although they are few. And they have access to catalogs of spare parts and necessary equipment. No one knows how the Chinese brand will behave if it has to leave our market. Whether in this case the owner of Chinese "exotics" will be able to do something with it and how much its price will fall on the secondary market in this case, we can only guess," said the vice-president of NAC to Izvestia.
Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine, also adheres to a similar point of view. According to him, buyers of rare car models from China run a high risk of being left "alone" with these problems in case of any problems with the car. In addition, the liquidity of such models on the secondary market is much lower than that of more common cars.
Access is limited
Experts also recognize the problems with access of technical centers to the necessary equipment for diagnostics and repair of cars from China, as well as difficulties in finding and ordering spare parts for them. Moreover, there are difficulties even with brands that have official representation in our country, Maxim Kadakov told Izvestia.
- One of my subscribers, who was involved in an accident on a Russian "Chinese", had to wait almost four months for a new door for the car ordered from an official dealer. And its delivery cost a very decent amount of money," he said.
The Chinese are extremely reluctant to share technical information on their cars and equipment for diagnosis and repair, confirms Anton Shaparin. This is due to the fact that they are afraid of technology and process leakage, he explains. At the same time, frequent updates of PRC models and the lack of clear spare parts catalogs lead to difficulties in repair, notes NAC Vice President.
