Dealers pointed to the shift of the Russian car business towards localization

After the changes related to recycling, the economic model of the automotive business in Russia is shifting towards localization. Many market players see the need to organize the assembly of machines in the country, said Alexander Nikolaev, Deputy director of the Major sales department.

According to the expert, at the moment, more than 50 car models of almost 20 different brands are already being produced in Russia.

"For most players, the organization of assembly production in Russia has moved from the category of strategic perspective to the category of practical necessity in order to maintain price competitiveness. We, as dealers, see this shift using the example of the structure of our supplies and negotiations with manufacturers," the Autostat analytical agency quoted Nikolaev as saying on January 15.

In turn, Roman Slutsky, CEO of Alarm-Motors Group, is confident that almost all major brands in the Russian car market will continue to rebuild their business on a local assembly model. He expects that by the second half of 2026, most of the local production facilities will gradually reach operating capacity and steadily fill the market with new cars.

"Buyers are exhausted": car sales in 2025 decreased by 16%

Chinese cars are being replaced by Russian models

As Sergey Tselikov, director of Autostat, said the day before, sales of Chinese-built cars in Russia decreased by 38% in 2025, with a total of 489,000 such cars sold. At the same time, sales of Russian-built cars in 2025 increased by 8%, while the overall car market declined. So, during the year, 701.7 thousand new cars were sold in the Russian Federation, rolled off Russian assembly lines. Their market share has grown to 52.9%.

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