Taxi companies are preparing a sale of used foreign cars

Taxi companies are preparing for the mass sale of used foreign cars. Their share in the fleets of carriers today exceeds 80%, and the entire volume is expected to be released to the market starting in March 2026. Representatives of the industry told Izvestia about this during the International Eurasian Taxi Forum (MEFT).

Checkers and don't go: taxi drivers threatened to go to the gray zone because of taxes

Carriers are asking for a 50% reduction in VAT, as is done in the catering industry.

The reason for the projected departure of cars from the parks was the requirements of the laws on localization of transport for taxis and on passenger transportation FZ-580. In accordance with them, carriers will not be able to re-register foreign cars already used in taxi companies in the transport register from March next year. And such re-registration is necessary when renting cars to drivers with the status of individual entrepreneurs (IE).

"Leasing foreign cars that are already operating in taxi companies are also prohibited from being reissued," Spartak Zabolotsky, an investor in taxi "Chocolate", told Izvestia.

Currently, the standard is in effect that when changing the owner of a taxi car, it is necessary to add the new owner to the register of carriers, Dmitry Vissarionov, regional director of the sales department at Gazprombank Autoleasing, added to Izvestia.

Since 2023, carriers have been actively purchasing foreign cars on lease for a period of three to four years. Some of them have the number of such cars approaching 80%. And in 2026-2027, the time is coming for their purchase from leasing companies and re-registration into ownership, the market participant notes.

According to Spartak Zabolotsky, it is possible to register cars as property, but it will no longer be possible to work for them in a taxi, since they have insufficient localization. These cars will have to be sold on the secondary market, the carrier believes.

According to the Chocolate taxi, about 25 thousand imported cars were leased in Moscow in 2023, of which about 20 thousand three-year-old foreign cars will not be able to work in taxis after the renewal of ownership. They may end up on the secondary market.

The agency "Autostat" estimated that when resold on the secondary market, a taxi car loses more than half of its value. If the Haval Jollion crossover was leased in 2022 for 2.22 million rubles, then in 2025 it is already worth 980 thousand rubles on the secondary market, which is 46% of the initial cost.

Read more in the exclusive Izvestia article:

Comfort minus: taxi companies are preparing a sale of used foreign cars