Prices for Chinese cars in Russia are unreasonably high – this was openly stated by several heads of dealer companies at once. However, they are in no hurry to reduce the cost, accusing producers and customs officers of greed. “Chinese cars” studied the opinions of market participants.
The survey of dealers was conducted by the agency “Autostat”, which came to the conclusion that the prices for Chinese cars in Russia are 1.5-2 times higher than the same in China (in fact, up to three times). Worse, this price dynamics also applies to cars that are assembled on the territory of the EAEU. Who is to blame and what to do? Dealer analysts asked.
Who is guilty?
– The difference in prices is explained by the greed of Chinese manufacturers and Russian customs. There is no other explanation, just as there is no justification. Both those and others took advantage of the prevailing circumstances in the Russian car market, and the amount of exceeding the realistic price depends on the will of the manufacturers and the requirements of the existing customs legislation, – said Sergey Klimov, member of the board of directors, Dolavto Group of Companies
A similar opinion, only slightly softer, was expressed by another market participant.
– Due to the lack of competition, there were also no limiting factors that could prevent price increases. Instead of increasing the supply of budget cars and occupying the niche vacated from other foreign brands, Chinese automakers, on the contrary, raised prices and reduced the volume of deliveries,” said Alexei Podshchekoldin, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BN-Motors
Their colleagues were not so categorical.
— There is a whole range of cost items in the budget of any car importer or “localized Chinese”, which are hardly capable of equalizing retail prices for the same car in the Russian and Chinese markets in the short term. Logistics, customs duties, salvage, certification, interest rates, currency risks, the GLONASS system … – Roman Slutsky, General Director of Alarm-Motors Group, listed the price growth factors
And only one of the respondents mentioned dealers. True, extremely unscrupulous.
– Manufacturers are required to go through the customs clearance procedure for their cars, which includes obtaining a title, payment of a fee, customs duty and recycling fee. This already increases the final cost for the consumer by 2-2.5 times. And this is without taking into account the logistics costs for the delivery of cars by sea, by rail or by car transporter (about 150 thousand rubles to Moscow). In addition, a number of unscrupulous dealers overestimate the recommended retail prices, taking advantage of the fact that the Chinese auto industry today is practically the only alternative to domestic cars. For example, in February 2023, in some car dealerships in Russia, Geely, Haval and Chery cars are sold for several tens of thousands more, – said Denis Reshetnikov, head of the dealer direction of the Fresh Auto car dealership network.
And what to do?
Apparently, we can only wait until the prices for Chinese cars in Russia fall to an acceptable level.
— With a gradual increase in the volume and quality of supply on the market, both from Chinese and Russian automakers, competition will increase. In my opinion, the difference in the cost of identical cars in the markets of Russia and China, taking into account the cross-rate, may soon approach a factor of 1.3. It is known that compact and medium-sized sedans will return to the Russian market this year, as at least 6 well-known Chinese brands have already announced. I believe that this factor will allow a potential buyer to find a more comfortable price alternative to SUV models. I think that thanks to the appearance of sedans, cars with automatic transmission worth about 1.5 million rubles will again appear on the market,” Roman Slutsky optimistically predicted
Another expert assumes a similar alignment.
– It would be logical to assume that our price should differ from the price in China by the amount of transportation costs plus customs payments in the amount of 5-10%. Only the market can force prices down. Selling more expensive cars is always more profitable than selling cheap ones, other things being equal. And since sales volumes from Chinese manufacturers used to be small, the transition to expensive models was a dream of Chinese automakers. I think that after some time they will definitely return to a lower price segment. Chery is already diversifying its lineup. As soon as the niche of expensive cars is filled, and other manufacturers will pay attention to the economy segment, Sergey Klimov believes
In addition, dealers expect more discounts on Chinese cars.
– Currently, many Chinese cars are sold at a discount from the automaker up to 600 thousand rubles. According to our data, this year Chinese distributors plan to increase the amount of the discount on the purchase of a new car. It will be from 600 thousand to 900 thousand rubles. Also, a decrease in prices for cars of Chinese brands is possible in the event of an increase in the production of Russian car plants and the appearance of new distributors in the Russian market. The competition will increase – the deficit will decrease. It would be inappropriate to keep prices at a high level, as sales of expensive cars will significantly decrease,” Alexey Podshchekoldin emphasized.
By the way, the Chinese Automobiles website will resume regular monitoring of prices for cars from China to Russia in the coming days.
Michael Nadezhdin (@chinamashina)
