In terms of sales of Chinese cars, Russia has become third-rate

Anna Tkach

AutoPortal editorial team

2,472 views 1 min read

That's it, the balalaika is broken. Russia, which until recently proudly held the title of 'main buyer of Chinese cars,' now doesn't even make it into the top 2. According to Bloomberg, in January-February 2025, the Chinese shipped only 57.6 thousand cars to the RF — and this despite the fact that 86 thousand went to Mexico, and 71.4 thousand to the Emirates. That is, now even sheikhs and sombrero brothers are more interesting to the Celestial Empire than this 'empire on imported wheels.'

This is not the finale yet. Belgium, which is comparable in area to the Leningrad region but has significantly more common sense, took fourth place with a figure of 48.5 thousand Chinese cars. It is worth noting that this country only serves as a transit point. But Russia, which was once a priority destination, now resembles a dead end.

The reasons for such a decline are on the surface:

economic stagnation,
the increase in the recycling tax (after all, the budget needs to be filled while the war continues),
assembling Chinese cars from kits that resemble a construction set — cheap, but the quality is corresponding.

But the main signal is the fading interest from the Chinese side. Why deal with a market where prices are unpredictable, logistics let you down, and the solvency of the population leaves much to be desired?

So we get a new joke: “From the main market — to a main headache”. Russia is in third place. And this, it seems, is not the limit of the fall.