Meanwhile, according to a newly published report by Autostat, the number of cars bearing Chinese brands running in Russia has reached 1.45 million, as of January 1, 2024. Based on the total number of cars running in Russia, Chinese cars account for about 3.1%.
According to this unit, the most popular Chinese car brand in Russia is Chery, accounting for 26% of the total registered Chinese cars. Specifically, the number of cars from the Chery group in China is 375,600. GEELY is next with 273,400 cars, Haval with 215,100 cars, Lifan with 152,100 cars, and Great Wall with 124,400 cars.
Although Chery is the group with the most registered Chinese cars in Russia, the most popular Chinese car model is owned by Haval with the Jolion model – about 81,300 vehicles.
Notably, Jolion is also the model that Haval is accepting deposits in Vietnam, which is expected to be officially launched and sold in April.
Haval Vietnam dealerships are currently accepting Jolion deposits, expected to be priced around VND 700 million, competing with B+ crossovers like the Toyota Corolla Cross.
After the conflict between Russia and Ukraine erupted, many foreign car brands have left the Russian market, including Toyota, Mercedes, and Volkswagen. When these brands leave, the Russian car market has a big gap, and that has become a great opportunity for Chinese car manufacturers.
In recent years, Chinese car manufacturers have had to make efforts to export cars worldwide to continue the operation of factories, while the Chinese domestic car market has slowed down.
Only in February, Geely is the best-selling foreign car manufacturer in Russia with 12,262 cars – a growth of 3.8 times compared to the same period last year. The best-selling Geely model in Russia in February was the mid-size Monjaro SUV with sales of 4,830 units, followed by the Geely Coolray model with 2,665 units.
Moskvich is actually the Sehol A5 Plus developed by Chinese manufacturer JAC.
In contrast to the 5-digit figures of the Chinese group, the legendary Russian brand Moskvich only sold 1,050 units in February; 100 of which are Moskvich 6 models. In the first two months of the year, Moskvich sold 1,740 units, with 150 of them being the Moskvich 6 model. Moskvich 6 is actually the Sehol A5 Plus model developed by JAC (China).
In Russia, JAC is Moskvich’s partner. Some unofficial sources reveal that in the near future, Moskvich will continue to cooperate with another “Eastern” car manufacturer. Observers say that Moskvich needs another partner to support production when they plan to produce 22,000 cars this year.
Along with Moskvich 6, Moskvich is also selling many other models, including Moskvich 3, which is also a rebadged model of the Sehol X4 also developed by JAC.
