OREANDA-NEWS  Chinese automakers did not anticipate the decline in demand before the New Year and filled warehouses in Russia with cars. Car stocks will last until April, experts interviewed by Kommersant are confident.

Suppliers expected more demand for machines against the background of increased recycling, as a result of which warehouses were overstocked. According to Sergey Tselikov, director of Autostat, brand stocks from China now amount to 200-250 thousand units, while the maximum stocks a year earlier amounted to 175 thousand.

Chinese manufacturers underestimated the increase in the key interest rate in Russia, said Maxim Kadakov, editor-in-chief of Za Rulem magazine. Oleg Moseev, an independent auto expert, believes that the situation is caused by initially inflated plans for supplies to the Russian market. The cars were brought with a reserve before the increase in recycling and the market was not predicted to fall, as a result of which the stocks of Chinese cars amounted to 360 thousand units, excluding parallel imports. Renat Tyukteev, Deputy General Director for New Car Sales at Avilon AG, calls the same figure.

It will not be easy to fix the situation, as overstocking will not lead to lower prices given the rising cost of loans. Instead, against the background of the weakening of the ruble and the indexation of duties, the cost of new cars may increase by 10 percent.

"No one will drastically rewrite the prices and surprise us with super prices," Kadakov explained.

Anton Alikhanov, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, said that 2025 will be more difficult for the Russian car market and domestic concerns. Sanctions pressure from Western countries will increase, which will be superimposed on cooling demand for new cars along with a decrease in lending due to high interest rates and increased recycling. "The industry needs to adapt to rapidly changing realities," Alikhanov said.