While Chery delays the start of car production in Barcelona for at least a year after taking over the old Nissan factory, the Chinese manufacturer has begun to assemble cars in three different factories in Russia, these were European brands, such as Mercedes y Volkswagen. And Russia is becoming the first market for Chinese brands outside their native country.
Western, Japanese and Korean manufacturers have left Russia in February 2022 and Chinese companies have simply taken their place. Its growth has been dazzling, with more than 300% in some cases, and by 2023 it will sell more than 200,000 cars. The Chinese brands thus cornered 41% of the Russian market in 2023, compared to 17% in 2022 and only 3.5% in 2020.
The Russian automobile market in the hands of China
Chinese manufacturers are expanding their reach to have a greater weight in Russian production. And Russia is increasing taxes on imported cars, thus encouraging local production.
Although the domestic manufacturer AvtoVAZ (Lada), formerly owned by Renault, remains the sales leader in Russia (31% of sales in 2023, according to official AEB statistics), the Chinese Chery already occupies second place with 18.7% of the market. His compatriot Great Wall takes 12.3% and Geely, billionaire Li Shufu’s company, 7.4%.
Thus, Chery, which represents almost a fifth of passenger car sales in Russia, has begun to assemble in SKD (semi knock down, in English, half disassembled) in plants that previously belonged to Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and Nissan, the models Tiggo 7 y Exeed de Chery. These are manufactured in China, but are sent to Russian factories in disassembled kits to be reassembled on Russian soil.
Chery Tiggo 7
At the St. Petersburg plant, for example, sold by the Japanese Nissan to the Russian State at the end of 2022, the Chery Tiggo 7 It is being renamed Xcite X-Cross 7, thus selling a Chinese model under the Russian brand Xcite, created specifically.
Curiously, it is not only Chinese models that are assembled in Russia, some Western models also appear. According to Reuters, Chinese company Dongfeng supplies SKD kits for the Chinese-made Citroën C5 Aircross for assembly at the former Stellantis factory in Kaluga, Russia. Unlicensed, of course, since Stellantis has also pulled out of Russia.
Source: www.motorpasion.com
