Russia: Record Imports of Chinese Cars
More than 19% of Chinese-made cars were imported into Russia in August
While the European car market is licking its wounds – in August, the number of new car registrations fell by 16.5% – during the last summer month Russia imported cars from China for a record amount of 1.6 billion dollars.
According to Chinese customs data, Russia increased purchases of cars made in China by 26% in August 2024 compared to July, while year-on-year growth was 1.5 times. After the hasty flight of European automakers from Russia, the market was immediately occupied by Chinese manufacturers, which in the first eight months of this year sold about $9.15 billion worth of cars on the Russian market, compared to $6.8 billion from January to August last year. And while the United States and the European Union block Chinese exports of both “traditional” cars and electric vehicles, Russia’s share of Chinese car exports reached an unprecedented 19.1 percent last month.
