“Yeah, they have almost no competitors now,” he said. “But that doesn’t mean people will quickly change their opinion.”
The market share of Chinese brands reached 37.15 per cent in January-February, up from 9.48 per cent a year ago, show Autostat and PPK data. Departing European, Japanese and Korean brands saw sales decline from 70 percent to 22.6 percent.
However, the sharp jump comes amid declining new car sales, which are set to fall 58.8 percent in 2022 as lower living standards and the desire for Western-made vehicles drive people to reduce their spending and buy more used cars. inspired.
China’s Haval is now producing cars locally in a sign of growing cooperation, while in Moscow, a revived Soviet-era Moskvich is using engine parts, design and engineering from China’s JAC.
But another complaint for consumers is the price. Even Medvedev said that the price of Moskvich seemed a bit high. The Model 3 costs around 2 million rubles (USD 26,195). Prices for the Lada Granta, Russia’s best-selling car, start at around 680,000 rubles.
“(The Chinese) are bringing out a lot of cars, but if we talk about price, not quality, there is no cheap car,” said Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of “Behind the Wheel” magazine.