Chinese Cars’ Quality Issues May Cost Russian SalesChinese Cars’ Quality Issues May Cost Russian Sales

Consumer complaints about quality, as well as unacceptably high prices and lack of spare parts, may curtail sales of Chinese cars in Russia.

Chinese vehicles’ popularity grew rapidly after Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine prompted most foreign automakers to withdraw from the Russian market. Some 60 Chinese brands currently are on the Russian market, compared with only 16 prior to 2023.

But complaints about Chinese cars’ quality have come from, among others, representatives of taxi companies claiming the vehicles’ service life is much lower than those of European and American brands.

According to a report in the Russian Kommersant business paper, the share of Chinese cars in domestic taxi fleets has reached 70%-80% but their service life is equivalent to 93,200 miles (150,000 km), compared to 155,300-186,400 miles (250,000-300,000 km) for most Western brands, including South Korean and Japanese makes.

The report says private owners report similar problems with their Chinese

models, including 70% reporting trouble with continuously variable transmissions. Other complaints involve engines, faulty warranties and difficulties in finding spare parts.

Many Russian consumers also are dissatisfied with relatively high prices for Chinese cars, which can start at RR 2 million ($22,000).

According to analysts with the Russian National Agency for Industrial Information, the cost of maintaining a Chinese car after five years of operation exceeds the cost of a new vehicle.

Repairs also pose problems. The Russian Union of Auto Insurers says the delivery time for imported Chinese auto parts has almost doubled to about 45 days. Meanwhile, auto repair shops in Russia report a massive influx of counterfeit parts for Chinese cars.

Roman Gulyaev, owner of Euroauto, a large Russian auto repair shop, says technical information about repairs is hard to find because Chinese automakers generally pay more attention to assembling cars than to servicing them.

Other complaints voiced by owners of Chinese cars to the Russian auto magazine Njcar include poor ergonomics and low-quality electronics.

For many Russians, however, a car is a status symbol for which they are willing to overpay. The general preference is for the newest car possible.

Chinese Changan sedans rebadged as Volga models for Russian market.

Evgeny Zhitnukhin, head of the dealership department of the FRESH automobile marketplace, tells Russia’s Riamo online paper that many Chinese cars are not suited to the country’s climate – particularly electric cars, whose battery reserves may decrease rapidly in subzero temperatures. The number of complaints about Chinese cars’ performance in winter is high, despite recent above-normal temperatures.

Chinese cars also are susceptible to Russia’s cold weather which, combined with powerful snow-melting chemicals, damages paintwork and leads to corrosion. Another drawback is suspensions that can crack after as little as 43,500 miles (70,000 km) of use.

Sergey Kogogin, CEO of the Russian truckmaker Kamaz, has said Chinese-brand cars are “not at all suitable” for Russia. He cites the revived Moskvich in which Kamaz was a partner, saying the compact car had insufficient anti-corrosion protection and vibration resistance. The Moskvich 3 and Moskvich 6 models, which are assembled at the former Renault plant in Moscow, have been renamed the JAC JS4 and JAC Sehol A5.

Kamaz and its former co-owner, Daimler Truck, jointly tested new vehicles before introducing them to the market but in the case of the new Moskvich its Chinese partners did not, Kogogin says.

According to Kogogin, high-quality and inexpensive repairs of Chinese cars will be difficult to achieve in the next few years due in part to the instability of the Russian ruble.

Still, some analysts note most of the Chinese cars sold in Russia are budget models costing several times less at home than they do in Russia. Selling those models in Russia automatically increases the price by up to RR 2.5 million ($25,060) due to various taxes, tariffs, fees and costs.

Other analysts believe in Chinese automakers’ ability to learn from their mistakes and improve the quality of cars supplied to Russia.