Sales of Chinese cars in Russia have hit fresh records after the country became the largest export destination for the Asian nation’s automakers when sanctions forced western brands to cut ties with Moscow.
Surging in Russian sales have helped Chinese carmakers at a time when Beijing faces higher tariffs on electric vehicle exports from Washington and Brussels — while engineering a rapid change in Russian auto culture.
“People are voting with their wallets,” said Ilya Frolov, a car blogger based in Moscow. “If you’re buying a car, your choice is either a [Russian-made] Lada or an extremely expensive European car brought in as a grey import, or a very well equipped and relatively cheap Chinese one.”