The expert named car brands from the risk zone of withdrawal from the Russian market

Among car brands, the main contenders for withdrawal from the Russian market in the near future are brands from the category of outsiders. At risk are brands whose sales amount to only thousands, and sometimes hundreds of cars per year, and which do not have deep production localization within the country. This was stated by Irina Frank, CEO of Frank Auto.

"Experts often name Kaiyi and SWM among such brands. However, it is very important to understand the difference here: for these companies, the withdrawal of one of the cars from sale is likely to be the beginning of the end, whereas for market leaders such as GAC, the temporary disappearance of, for example, the GS3 crossover is just a regrouping of forces and preparation for the market launch of more promising new products that should win his buyer," Rossiyskaya Gazeta quoted Frank as saying on March 16.

However, from the point of view of the health of the Russian car market, this situation is positive for responsible and major players, the expert pointed out. Now there is a transition from chaotic filling of car dealerships with everything that we managed to bring, to civilized and transparent work with large industrial partners, she stressed.

Thus, as a result of these processes, competition among car companies is shifting to the field of service quality, development of service infrastructure and technology. The remaining brands will have to invest in the service in order to retain the customer, and the market as a whole will become more structured and predictable, Frank believes.

Kaiyi and SWM brands have been called the main contenders for withdrawal from the Russian market before. However, as noted in the publication, representatives of the brands stated that they were not going to leave Russia.

Where everything is heading: trends and prospects of the Russian car market and automotive industry

Automakers, distributors and experts discussed the difficulties in the industry

On February 12, Chinese automakers Rox Motor, Bestune and Dongfeng denied information in the media about the possible withdrawal of these brands from the Russian market.

Alexander Shaprinsky, commercial director of the Pragmatika dealership network, said on February 10 that in 2026 car brands with weak distribution, poor localization of production and illiterate marketing policies could leave the Russian market.

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.