Cooling-off period: Chinese cars are leaving the Russian market
Since the beginning of the year, deliveries of one and a half dozen car models from China to the Russian market have been stopped. In addition, the production of some cars, which were produced at domestic car factories, has been discontinued. Low sales and rising car prices, as well as the launch of Chinese brands under new Russian brands, are leading to a serious transformation of the market, experts say. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Sometimes they leave...
In three months of this year, a dozen and a half models of Chinese-made cars left the Russian car market. This is evidenced by sales data, an analysis of the official websites of Russian representative offices of automobile brands from China, as well as statements by the manufacturers themselves.
So, at the end of February, GAC announced the termination of sales of the GS3 compact crossover in Russia. According to the company's representatives, this decision was made "in the context of the current instability of the automotive market, which is caused by a complex of factors — from the economic situation to changes in the structure of supply and demand."
In early March, the Tiggo 4 model disappeared from the Russian website. A little later, the Tiggo 7 Pro Max crossover suffered the same fate. According to Sergey Tselikov, CEO of the Autostat analytical agency, only 41 Chery cars were imported into our country in January–February, which is 100 times less than in the first two months of 2025.
Also in early March, Jetour announced the withdrawal of the X50 and X70 models from the Russian market. In addition, the Dongfeng passenger car range is currently represented only by the Huge and Mage crossovers: there are no more mentions of the Shine Max sedan, the DF6 pickup truck, as well as the DFSK 500, ix5 and ix7 crossovers on the automaker's Russian website, the Chinese Cars portal drew attention. The situation is similar with the Bestune brand — only the B70 and T90 models are presented on the company's website, as for the T55 crossover, dealers sell previously imported cars. The company's press service confirmed the end of sales of this model.
In mid-March, it became known about the suspension of the production of the electric crossover Evolute i-Jet in the Lipetsk region. According to Elizaveta Khmeleva, the company's director of public relations, this is due to a "change in focus to affordable and mass—produced models" - i-Space and i-Joy. Earlier, at the end of last year, the company stopped assembling the i-Pro electric sedan.
Not only individual models, but also several Chinese car brands are on the verge of leaving the Russian market. So, according to Sergey Tselikov, according to the results of the first two months, sales of SWM and Kaiyi cars collapsed by 91.3 and 94%, respectively. In absolute terms, 101 Russians became SWM buyers in January and February, while Kaiyi cars sold only 37 units. The models of these brands were assembled at the Kaliningrad Avtotor plant.
— Judging by the ratio of total production and sales volumes, about 300-400 cars of these brands remain in inventory. So the history of their presence in the Russian market is almost complete," believes the CEO of Autostat.
Oversaturation and natural selection
Over the past two years, Chinese automakers have introduced a huge number of brands and models to the Russian market, and there has been a glut, said Irina Frank, CEO of Frank Auto.
— Now natural selection has begun. We are entering a phase when the market is finally moving from extensive growth to qualitative consolidation, manufacturers are phasing out supplies of models that are either obsolete or show weak sales in order to reduce logistics, certification and dealer service costs," Irina Frank told Izvestia.
Recycling will continue to be indexed annually, and the key rate in Russia remains high, which narrows effective demand, she recalled. In such conditions, only brands with stable sales and, more importantly, with localized production can survive, the expert believes. The rest will be forced to either drastically reduce the model range or completely leave the market, she believes.
The situation in the automotive market remains quite difficult, so it is economically impractical for manufacturers to keep models with low sales on it, says Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine. In some cases, the changed economic conditions force them to withdraw from the market not one or another model completely, but only certain versions, he notes.
— A vivid example of this is the situation with the updated Haval H9 SUV, which has now lost its diesel engine version. After the recent indexation of recycling, the price of such machines has increased dramatically, as a result, it was simply removed from the market," he recalled.
At the same time, in some cases, the opposite situation arises, when, taking into account the economic situation in our country, new car modifications appear, said the editor-in-chief of Za Rulem. For example, Geely has launched a version of the Preface sedan on the Russian market with a 200 to 150 hp engine.
Nevertheless, not a single automaker from China has yet announced an official withdrawal from our market, said Igor Morzharetto, a partner at the Autostat analytical agency. And such statements are not expected in the foreseeable future, he is sure.
— This is due to the peculiarities of Chinese legislation, according to which every automaker must be present in markets with export potential. Russia is one of such markets for China. Therefore, it is extremely important for car companies to remain in our country under their own or "partner" brand, he said.
The assembly replaces the import
Some of the models that officially left the Russian market actually remained on it, experts say. First of all, we are talking about Chery cars, which have been manufactured in our country under the Tenet brand since last summer. Other brands will follow a similar pattern in the near future, experts believe. For example, the first presentation of the "live" Jeland brand cars has already taken place, in which the Jaecoo J8 model is unmistakably guessed. And just last week, production of the first Volga model, based on the Geely crossover, was launched.
The niche that is being vacated after the departure of a number of Chinese models will be occupied by three categories of players, Irina Frank believes. First of all, these are brands that have invested in deep localization: Haval and the Belarusian Belgee. The second important player is Russian brands, she notes.
— In 2026, a significant number of new models are expected to be launched on the market, among which the Lada Azimut crossover will be a key novelty. They will actively replace outgoing Chinese cars in the mass segment. And finally, part of the demand will flow to the secondary market, where the supply base will be "fresh" Chinese cars, as well as cars of Japanese, Korean and European brands, which continue to be imported through parallel imports, Irina Frank believes.
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