Bareback: Chinese tractors banned in Russia
Following the Shacman trucks, Rosstandart banned the release into circulation of a number of DongFeng, Foton, FAW and Sitrak models. Their vehicle type approvals have been suspended. As indicated in the department, these trucks pose a significant threat to the health and life of drivers and pedestrians. Izvestia found out whether Chinese trucks are so dangerous or whether the interests of Russian manufacturers are behind the ban.
Which trucks are being recalled
Dongfeng trucks of type DFH 4180, Foton type BJ4189, FAW type CA4250, CA4180, Sitrak type ZZHS, as well as Foton type M4L chassis were banned. In addition, the release into circulation is prohibited for DongFeng type DFH 5200B, Foton type H5 and FAW type JH6-B 8X4: the documents of conformity of these models were issued in other member states of the Eurasian Economic Union.
According to information on the Electronic Passport website, DongFeng DFH 4180 trucks have already had their EPTS (electronic vehicle passports) cancelled. We are talking mainly about tractor trucks. Under the designation ZZHS, most likely, are almost all "Sitraki" and "Khovo", which were officially imported into the Russian Federation, Andrei Mikhailov, a Truck Press journalist, told Izvestia.
Earlier, Rosstandart had complaints about the safety of Shacman SX3258 trucks, then the inspectors checked Sinotruk.
How are they dangerous?
The reason for the ban was violations of mandatory requirements identified by Rosstandart, which "pose a significant danger to the health and life of both drivers of vehicles and other road users, including pedestrians," the agency said in a statement.
Such violations included non-compliance with the mandatory requirements for the effectiveness of the braking system, the noise level of a moving truck, the identification of controls and the installation of an emergency call device.
In addition, numerous documented violations have been identified that relate to seat belt attachment points and their installation, seats, protection against unauthorized use, emissions, rear safety devices, side safety devices, steering, front anti-rollback devices, and others.
Rosstandart stated that it had issued a number of instructions to the official representatives of the brands on the need for a recall campaign to eliminate violations. They notified the agency of the suspension of sales of products in respect of which violations were detected, and also began developing action programs to correct these violations.
Rosstandart emphasizes that sales of the listed trucks should be suspended, violators will be administratively liable.
How many trucks are we talking about?
The banned cars are leaders in the segment of inexpensive and affordable models, which makes them popular in various sectors of the economy, Andrey Romanyuk, head of the AAA Trakservice sales department, told Izvestia.
He noted that by the end of the first half of 2025, the combined share of FAW, Foton, DongFeng and Sitrak is more than 30% of the heavy truck market in the country.
— If there are many identified discrepancies, the number of such vehicles may reach 25-30 thousand units, — said Andrey Romanyuk. He added that previously issued EPTS have already been canceled for some of the cars and similar news may appear on other models in the near future.
"Golden samples"
— We have been consistently fighting for such a decision to be made for a long time. We filed a lawsuit against Rosstandart because it did not use all possible coercive measures against Sitrak, which clearly violated Russian law and was absolutely not going to comply with the requirements of the recall campaign. As for the rest of the Chinese brands on the list, they were doing pretty much the same thing. Some cars are certified and others are supplied," Anton Shaparin, Vice President of the National Automobile Union (NAS), told Izvestia.
The verification of already certified equipment "retroactively" is due to the fact that certification bodies previously looked at many things "through their fingers," notes Andrey Mikhailov.
— There was a widespread practice when "gold" samples were provided for certification that met all the requirements of the regulations, and simplified and cheaper cars that no longer met the requirements were on sale. The same noise insulation is a clear and sure sign of cheaper products," he notes.
The situation on the truck market also had a certain impact.
— On the one hand, sales of new equipment have stopped due to expensive leasing, on the other hand, an incredible number of seized trucks are now "hanging" on the stocks of leasing companies, which block even those tiny sales of new equipment that could have been. Another factor is that sellers of Chinese equipment brought in a huge number of trucks before the increase in recycling in order to have time to clear them at the old rate, and now they cannot sell them, there will be enough reserves for years," said Andrey Mikhailov.
Under one comb
In itself, Rosstandart's decision is correct, says Alexander Tsypin, managing partner of the Business Strategy consulting agency. According to him, Chinese automakers do not always meet the requirements of Russian legislation and do not pay due attention to this. Sometimes trucks do not comply with the OTC standards that are used to import them into Russia. Since the end of 2023, Rosstandart has been paying attention to this. Shacman was the first to suffer because he reacted worse than the others, the expert suggested.
— How it was done raises big questions. All Chinese manufacturers were taken "under the same umbrella," and Rosstandart, as far as I know, has different claims against everyone. On the one hand, these are the requirements for cabin noise, and on the other, for the braking system, which is really critical. In one case, the OTTS was suspended due to incorrect wheel markings. There are three complaints against one of the manufacturers, none of them concerns the technical part," said Alexander Tsypin.
According to him, there is no sufficient explanation in the documents published by Rosstandart.
— It is stated that importers do not have the right to put equipment into circulation, that is, to sell it. But if the equipment has already been bought by a distributor, it is, in theory, put into circulation. Only DongFeng has had its TCP cancelled, FAW and Sitrak have not yet. Will Rosstandart cancel them if dealers and distributors continue to sell these trucks? Shacman has been unable to resolve this issue for more than six months. The manufacturer claims that the documents have been sent to the certification body, but Rosstandart claims that nothing has been received. It's not clear whose fault it is," Tsypin said.
He warned that it was possible that the truck manufacturer would decide to export the declared models from Russia and demand that the recycling fee be returned.
— 3606 cars have been recalled from DongFeng. Last year, they were imported for a recycling fee of 1 million 485 thousand rubles. Shacman still has 2,000 trucks, mostly dump trucks, and here the recycling fee is already 2 million rubles. This is a lot of money for the budget," said Alexander Tsypin.
Who benefits from this
Some experts believe that the ban on the sale of Chinese trucks is intended to "clear the way" for Russian manufacturers.
— Due to the temporary cessation of deliveries of Chinese cars, there will be a significant respite for KAMAZ. At the same time, this is a painful blow for builders, leasing companies, and banks, because large volumes have been purchased, including with factoring money. Now these volumes cannot be sold, registered, leased, and so on. Consequently, these cars and this money are "hanging up," Anton Shaparin believes.
Earlier, KAMAZ announced the transition to a one-day reduced working week from August 1. The lack of market growth prospects and pressure from importers forced us to take this step. Interestingly, JAC, a partner of KAMAZ, did not fall under the revocable company.
According to Autostat-Info, KAMAZ sold 8,336 vehicles in six months, while Sitrak sold less than 4,000, and other Chinese brands even fewer.
— The question is how much the tractors from China threatened KAMAZ. He didn't make more than 9,000 K5 trucks, and not because he couldn't sell them. The rule has always been in Russia: if the market falls, the share of foreign manufacturers falls. The same thing is happening now. The tractor market has already failed by 70% this year. Last year, about 50 thousand tractors were sold in the country, but now 30% remain, which is 15 thousand. KAMAZ is overstocked, but its market share has grown," said Alexander Tsypin.
The "tightening of the screws" affected not only the verification of already issued OTTs, but also the receipt of new ones, said Andrey Mikhailov. The certification procedure has been significantly tightened and slowed down, and this applies not only to Chinese brands, but also to local manufacturers.
— For example, the Likinsky Bus Plant received two OTTS for new models with a six-month delay. Moreover, we were talking about designs developed in Russia. Therefore, I am not ready to say that the Chinese brands turned on the red light, and the Russian ones were given the green light," the expert said.
Izvestia sent inquiries to Rosstandart and the DongFeng representative office, but no responses had been received at the time of publication.
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