Russia Looks to BRICS Countries for Auto Imports

Largely abandoned by the West following its invasion of Ukraine, Russia plans to significantly increase imports of cars from other countries belonging to the BRICS coalition: Brazil, India, China and South Africa.

The move is expected to benefit consumers by broadening the range of product offerings and helping lower prices.

Chinese automakers effectively have monopolized the Russian auto market since the beginning of 2023. The lack of competition has led to a sharp increase in average car prices, which exceed RR3 million ($31,000) – a big spend for most customers.

However, the current situation could change if the latest BRICS summit in the Russian city of Kazan paves the way for increased imports of passenger cars from countries other than China.

While no firm agreements were reached during the summit, automakers from India, Iran and some Middle East and African states have announced plans to start large-scale car exports to Russia soon.

Representatives of the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry confirm auto exports from such countries as Iran and India are planned.

Sergey Katyrin, head of the chamber, tells the Russian business publication Izvestia that Indian automakers in particular may gain a foothold in the budget segment of the domestic car market. 

Katyrin says India’s Tata Motors could be considered a promising model for sales in the Russian Federation. In addition, sales of Iranian cars began last year through parallel imports – mainly Tara sedans produced by Iranian automaker Khodro.  

In the meantime, another Iranian automaker, Saipa, sells its Quik cross-hatchback (pictured, below) and Saina S sedan in Russia and plans a further expansion of its domestic range.

All of these models could be considered affordable compared with the domestic Lada brand, prices of which have sharply increased in recent years.

A spokesman for the Indian government says some major Indian producers of auto parts already supply components to Russia, and large-scale exports of passenger cars are planned.    

In addition to Iranian and Indian cars, African models could appear in Russia. Uganda’s ambassador to Russia, Moses Kizige, has said his country is considered Africa’s leader in the production of electric vehicles. As part of this, the state-owned Kiira Motors Corp. is currently developing and producing EVs, a significant share of which may soon be supplied to Russia.

In general, though, African countries are more interested in joint assembly of cars than in exports to Russia. The Central African Republic’s ambassador to Russia, Leon Dodonu-Punagaza, says that country wants to team with Russian automaker UAZ to assemble models such as the UAZ Patriot SUV; talks for implementation of the project are underway.

Russian analysts believe that while Iranian and Indian automakers may find it difficult to compete with Chinese manufacturers, competition with local Lada cars is expected to be equally tough. In case of India, the country has a highly developed auto industry both in volume and product quality. But the analysts believe Indian automakers will have to spend significant time and effort to penetrate the Russian market.

At the same time, Russians’ interest in familiar foreign brands such as Kia, Hyundai, Renault and Volkswagen is still high. Those models now are sold using parallel imports – that is, outside conventional distribution networks – and their prices have increased significantly.