Tired of China: sales of European car brands increased in Russia
Since the beginning of this year, sales of European car brands in Russia have doubled, according to estimates by Sergey Tselikov, General Director of the Autostat agency. BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes—Benz and Skoda are among the most popular. Are Russians tired of the dominance of Chinese brands or is there a profitable way to deliver European cars? Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
Breaking the prohibitions
Sales of European brand cars increased by 104% in January–May 2026 compared to the same period last year. At the same time, the market share of Europeans is just over 5% of total sales, or 26.7 thousand units. For comparison, the Russian passenger car market has exceeded 492,000 units in five months.
BMW became the most popular brand, which increased sales by 51% to 6,451 units. Moreover, German-made cars are not officially imported into our country, and the automaker has stated its intention to prevent deliveries to Russia. This does not prevent BMW from selling better than another Chinese premium brand with an official representative office.
Volkswagen (5,659 units) and Audi (4,569 units) took the second and third places, showing an increase of 266% and 463%, respectively. Mercedes—Benz is in fourth place (4130 units, +57), and Skoda closes the top five (2932 units, +143%).
Interestingly, the buyers of the German three choose cars of different classes. If Audi's most popular model in May was the Q5, and BMW's most popular was the X3, then Mercedes-Benz's bestseller was the Volkswagen.
Ups and downs
Autostat also notes the growing interest in Land Rover, Porsche, Volvo cars, as well as in the "heavy luxury" — Rolls-Royce (96 units, +12%), Lamborghini (90 units, +73%) and Bentley (82 units, +73%). The Italians (Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Maserati), the British-Chinese MG, as well as the French — Peugeot and Citroen are in the red. They tried to assemble Citroens from Chinese car kits in Russia, but this experiment ended. Renault's sales, which were heading for zero, on the contrary, showed an increase of 1,000%, although quantitatively it is only 22 cars.
Chinese assembly
Nevertheless, European brands in Russia sell worse than Japanese ones. Toyota sold 12,717 cars in the first five months of 2026 (+98%), and Mazda sold 10,000 cars, an increase of 9.5 times. This is better than the results of some Chinese machines localized in Russia.
Interestingly, most cars of European and Japanese brands are shipped to Russia from China.
We will soon have almost no "pure-blooded" Europeans left. Almost 60% of these 26.7 thousand new cars were produced in China," said Sergey Tselikov in his Telegram channel.
From January to May, global brands accounted for 13.5% of new passenger car sales in the first five months of 2026. This is twice as much as in January–May 2025 (6.7%). At the same time, this share is decreasing from month to month. In February, it reached 15.9%.
Awaiting recycling
Experts interviewed by Izvestia attributed the growing popularity of cars of bygone brands to the favorable exchange rate of the ruble against the dollar and yuan, as well as to the continued preferential recycling rates for cars with a capacity of up to 160 hp. Autostat partner Igor Morzharetto voiced another reason — the expected increase in the recycling fee for cars imported through the EAEU countries.
— Since the introduction of this measure has been postponed indefinitely, people are trying to buy just in case. Cars actively went through Kyrgyzstan, and they actively went from China. In our country, they realized that Chinese production is not a disadvantage, it's normal," Morgiaretto said.
The power of brands
The growth in sales of European brands in Russia is associated with the development of alternative imports and a change in the price situation, Nikolai Ivanov, Rolf's new car sales director, told Izvestia.
— The segment has grown significantly in percentage, but remains limited in absolute terms. Customer interest is primarily due to the strength of brands, familiar quality, high residual value, and trust in models. BMW, Volkswagen, Audi, Mercedes-Benz, Skoda, and Land Rover remain an understandable choice for many customers. Especially if the price of alternative imports becomes comparable to well—equipped Chinese crossovers," he said.
Nikolai Ivanov confirmed that a significant part of such cars really do not come from Europe, but from others, including China. That is why sales are growing — suppliers are finding affordable channels and models that can be brought at a competitive price.
You can still bring a car from Europe, says auto blogger Elena Lisovskaya.
— Of course, there are certain tricks and tricks, but if you want to buy and you buy, then there is no problem. The German side organizes all these tricks by itself. They want to trade, and they don't care about the sanctions," she said.
The exchange rate difference makes expensive cars like the Mercedes-Benz G-Class significantly cheaper. Therefore, fans of the German premium are buying cars now, because they do not believe that the exchange rate will fall even lower, Lisovskaya explained.
Tired of waiting for spare parts
She also attributes the growing popularity of European and Japanese brands to Russians' fatigue with Chinese cars.
— When it comes to maintenance, people have been waiting for spare parts for months. Cars have become expensive, and there are just a lot of electrical glitches," Lisovskaya said.
According to her, there are now many services, including unofficial ones, that want to make money on cars of bygone brands.
— We already know Outlanders, Mazdas, and Qashqais, and they're about the same in terms of technology. It's just different catalog numbers, but the services have already learned how to solve these problems. The car is common, people are not afraid to take it, because they don't have any bigger problems than a dealer with Chinese cars that are officially sold," the expert noted
According to Lisovskaya, there may be delays in the delivery of spare parts for models not previously available in Russia.
A strong base
It is premature to talk about a massive abandonment of the Chinese car industry, Nikolai Ivanov believes.
Rather, the market is becoming more rational and flexible: the buyer compares not only the country of origin, but also the final price, liquidity, equipment level, cost of ownership and trust in a particular model. In this sense, European brands retain a strong emotional and reputational base," he explained.
Further sales growth of European brands is possible, but it will depend on the exchange rate, import conditions, recycling and availability of specific models, said Nikolai Ivanov.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
