The export of cars and components from Russia in 2018 brought $ 3.4 billion. About 70% of cars go to the CIS, but automakers are hindered by sanctions and expensive logistics – they ask for subsidies from the government.
Income from the export of Russian automotive products, including passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, and trucks, as well as automotive components, increased by 11% in 2018 to $ 3.381 billion. This data was provided by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. The main markets remain Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Algeria, the Czech Republic, Cuba, Latvia. The share of non-CIS countries in total was 32%.
The Russian Export Center (REC) clarified that the exports of all categories of vehicles in 2018 amounted to 114,890 units (103,511 units was the number in 2017). The overwhelming share of exports fell on cars: 93.5 thousand units (+8.6 thousand units) were sent abroad, which brought $ 1.288 billion to the budget.
“The main Russian cars exporters are AvtoVAZ, Renault, Hyundai, Volkswagen, GAZ Group, Toyota,” said Industry and Commerce Minister Denis Manturov. “And one of the leading enterprises of the Russian automotive industry, PJSC AVTOVAZ, in 2018 showed an increase of 57.5%, exporting more than 38 thousand Lada cars.”
The REC, in turn, noted KamAZ and Nissan. They also said that in 2018, deliveries of passenger cars to Egypt, Serbia and Iraq increased significantly, and Turkey became a new significant export destination. The main goal for auto companies in REC has been to increase volumes in traditional markets (such as the CIS, Eastern Europe, Cuba), as well as to enter and consolidate the markets of ASEAN, Latin America, and Africa.
Meanwhile, according to Manturov, the main barriers to the development of exports for all automakers in Russia are high customs duties and excise taxes on foreign markets, the high cost of export logistics, the impact of sanctions policy.
Meanwhile, the sources in large car companies directly say that there are not enough measures aimed at stimulating exports, and mainly compensation of logistics costs. They complained about the failure to pay the promised compensation from the state for delivery and homologation in 2018, which resulted in serious losses.
Similar losses are expected in 2019. If the amount of compensation is not increased, top managers threaten to curtail a number of projects in foreign countries: it is unprofitable to deliver cars there without subsidies. The REC noted that provision of the most demanded support measures “depends on the availability of budget resources”.
