According to the results of the first quarter, sales of new cars in Russia decreased by 45%. However, the March figures (-11%) give hope for an increase in the number of cars sold in the short term. The automotive market is gradually recovering, but its structure has undergone major changes, experts say. The former leaders of sales have left, new ones are coming in their place, including models previously unknown in our country. Details – in the material “Izvestia”.
“VAZ” will not catch up
In the first three months of 2023, 153.5 thousand new passenger cars and LCV models were sold in Russia, which is 44.7% less than in the first quarter of last year. Such data are provided by the Association of European Businesses (AEB). At the same time, the results of the first month of spring (48.4 thousand new cars) are only 11.4% less than last year’s March sales.
The leader was AvtoVAZ, which significantly exceeded its last year’s results. In the first quarter, 64.2 thousand Lada cars (+22%) were sold, and in March – 23.3 thousand cars, which is 90% more than last year. As a result, the company’s market share grew to 41.9% following the results of three months, while a year ago it was only 19%.
The second place belongs to the Chinese automaker Chery (brands Chery, Exeed and Omoda), which has sold a total of more than 30 thousand cars since the beginning of the year and occupied 16.5% of the market. Next come Great Wall Motors with the brands Haval and Great Wall (17.7 thousand cars, share – 11.5%) and Geely (12.7 thousand copies, share – 8.3%). The “Big Chinese Three” together with the growing brands Changan and FAW in the first quarter occupy the same market share as AvtoVAZ – 41.9%. Chinese Haval Jolion, Chery Tiggo 4 Pro, Chery Tiggo 7 Pro, Omoda C5 are among the top ten bestsellers: in fact, they replaced retired Korean, Japanese and German crossovers. At the same time, the Exeed premium brand has sold more cars than all the “luxury” ones on the market, even taking into account parallel imports.
Chinese wrestling
Along with a sharp increase in market share occupied by models of Chinese brands, experts note the emerging trend towards competition for consumers’ wallets among automakers from the PRC. Moreover, with the advent of new players on the market, it only intensifies.
“For example, the Jetour Dashing crossover is a direct competitor to Chery Tiggo 7, Omoda C5 and Changan CS85,” Sergey Bityugov, General Director of AvtoSpetsCentre Vnukovo, said in a conversation with Izvestia.
Heroes of bygone days
Available models (Kia Rio, Hyundai Solaris, VW Polo and Skoda Rapid), which topped the list of the best-selling cars in our country a year ago, are now not even in the top 25. The production of these machines at Russian factories was discontinued or suspended last spring. By now, dealers have run out of stock.
“If we talk about new cars, then the stocks of such models as Hyundai Solaris and Volkswagen Polo have run out, we have sold everything,” Alexei Starikov, Deputy General Director for Sales of New Cars at Avilon AG, told Izvestia.
An analysis of the official websites of automakers showed that at the time of preparation of the material in the warehouses of all Russian dealers there were only 61 Kia Rio sedans. A similar situation with the once popular VW Polo: all over the country left only 93 cars.
The affordable cars that left the Russian market will be replaced by new models, according to independent automotive industry consultant Sergey Burgazliev. First of all, these are cars of Russian and Chinese brands, he notes.
— AvtoVAZ announced the start of sales of the new Lada Vesta in late spring and early summer. In addition, the Kaiyi E5 sedan has recently appeared on the market, the production of which was launched at Avtotor.the expert recalled.
In his opinion, the Chinese model, released in Kaliningrad, can seriously compete with Vesta. Despite the fact that the Kaiyi is slightly more expensive than the Lada, it is noticeably larger, well equipped and, unlike the car from Tolyatti, has an automatic transmission. Lada Vesta will be available for the first time only with a manual transmission: CVT versions will appear only next year.
You should not discount the upcoming appearance on the Russian market of budget models from Iran. For example, sales of Saipa cars are expected to start in our country at the beginning of summer.
Parallel Worlds
Parallel import also plays a certain role in the segment of available machines. According to Alexei Starikov, thanks to deliveries through this channel, Volkswagen Bora, FAW B70 and Jetta VA3 are already available to customers.
In general, according to a study by VTB, every tenth car sold in Russia since the beginning of the year was imported as a parallel import. More than 80% are Japanese and German brands. The scale of alternative deliveries is shown by the difference in the AEB sales statistics (based on the figures for the shipment of cars to official dealers) and the data of the Avtostat analytical agency, which operates on new car registration data.
For example, according to the AEB, Toyota sold just 51 cars in the country in March and 179 cars in the first three months. Avtostat has a different result: 1942 cars in March and 4372 cars in the first quarter. The picture is similar for the Lexus brand: 6 and 129 cars (according to AEB) versus 395 and 791 cars (according to Avtostat). The difference just falls on cars imported into Russia through parallel imports.
The market needs support
Sales of new cars this year will depend on the economic and political situation, the ruble exchange rate, the availability of models from dealers and the solvency of buyers, Denis Reshetnikov, head of the dealer direction of the Fresh Auto car dealership network, believes. Also of great importance will be interest rates on loans, the cost of maintenance, auto insurance and car parts, he adds.
“Given the resumption of state support programs, it is possible to predict a 10% increase in sales of new cars in the coming months, but for this it is necessary to increase the volume of production and assembly of domestic cars,” he told Izvestia.
The preferential car loan program is a serious support for the domestic auto industry, Sergei Burgazliev notes. At the same time, taking into account the still difficult situation on the market, he believes that its conditions need to be reviewed.
— In my opinion, it makes sense to extend this program to all models worth up to 2 million rubles, which are produced in Russia, regardless of the level of their localization. Moreover, the amount of funding should be at least 8-10 billion rubles by the end of this year. This will make cars more affordable and will become an additional incentive to increase the interest of buyers.he is sure.
Meanwhile, as Izvestia previously reported, of the 1.5 billion rubles that remained in the budget of the state program of preferential car loans, only 600 million rubles were reserved for the purchase of a car with an internal combustion engine.
#market #moved #car #sales #March #fell