Alternative imports of new passenger cars decreased by 40%

In the past eight months, 70.8 thousand new passenger cars have been imported into Russia under alternative import schemes. This is 40% less than in January-August of last year, the director of the analytical agency Autostat reported in his Telegram channel on September 22.

Alternative mass imports appeared in Russia in 2022 after the departure of global brands. In 2023, when 225.5 thousand new passenger cars were imported according to various schemes. In 2024, the volume of such imports decreased by 20% (to 181.2 thousand units), the analyst estimated.

In 2025, China accounts for the largest share of alternative imports (41.2%). The second and third places are occupied by Kyrgyzstan (26.4%) and Belarus (13.3%). The top five also includes direct imports from South Korea (6.6%) and Japan (2.6%). The only growing area is South Korea (+165%). The Kyrgyz direction decreased the most (-67%). Customs clearance in the vast majority of cases is carried out by individuals, the expert noted.

Toyota is the most popular brand of alternative imports, accounting for almost every fifth car (18.1%). This was followed by BMW (11%), Geely (9.8%), Mercedes-Benz (6.7%) and Lixiang (6.2%).

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Earlier, on September 20, it was reported that Russia had again become the main importer of Chinese passenger cars. The import of cars from this country has increased to the maximum since the beginning of the year. At the end of the summer, the volume of supplies increased by a quarter.

On September 16, it became known that 38 thousand used passenger cars were imported from China to Russia in eight months of 2025. This is 4.5 times more than in the same period last year.

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