As global automakers, including Hyundai Motor Co, withdrew from Russia after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian war, China quickly filled the void, controlling more than 60 percent of the country’s car market. While auto sales in Russia have recently shown a clear recovery, it will be difficult for the global automakers to regain their lost market shares in competition with Chinese carmakers even if negative factors from the war disappear in the future, some experts forecast.

According to Autostat, a Russian automotive analytical agency, Korean automaker’s share of the Russian market shrank to 1.3 percent in the first half of 2024, down from 23 percent in February 2022, when the Russian-Ukrainian war erupted. During the same period, that of European automakers plummeted from 28 percent to 1.9 percent and that of Japanese automakers from 18 percent to 1.8 percent.

Chinese carmakers, on the other hand, saw their shares soar from 9 percent to 61 percent. The share of Russia’s own car brands also swelled from 20 percent to 31 percent, meaning that Chinese and Russian carmakers now account for 92 percent of the Russian car market.

This change is attributed to the tightening of global sanctions against Russia after the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, which led to the withdrawal of major automakers from Russia following the suspension of their production in Russia. Germany’s BMW, Audi, and Mercedes-Benz, Japan’s Toyota and America’s Ford, have all pulled out of Russia starting in 2022. Hyundai Motor was the last major player to withdraw from Russia. It sold off its Russian production plant in December last year.

Chinese automakers have been rapidly gaining their market shares since 2023 through an aggressive sales strategy, including the introduction of new brands. In particular, they are building a dominant presence not only in the low-priced segment but in the premium car market in Russia.

Autostat analyzes that Chinese automakers’ share in the premium segment of the Russian car market is now 78 percent. While car sales in Russia have recently recovered to a pre-COVID level, global carmakers are expected to face high barriers in re-entering the Russian auto market as Chinese carmakers have completely changed the Russian market landscape.