The biggest driving force for this round of growth comes from Japanese right-hand steering vehicles. In the first seven months of this year, Russia imported 151,900 used right-hand rudder cars from Japan, a year-on-year increase of 29%...

According to the latest data released by Sergey Tselikov, head of Russian automotive data agency Autostat, from January to July 2026, Russia imported a total of 255,700 used passenger cars more than three years old,a year-on-year increase of 12%. In July alone, Russiaimported 50,500 used cars, an increase of 7% over the same period last year. Although Russia has continuously increased car recycling fees (утилиза н н ный сбор) in recent years, imports of used cars have still maintained growth, but the market structure has undergone significant changes.

Zelikov said that the biggest driving force for this round of growth comes from Japanese right-hand steering vehicles. In the first seven months of this year, Russia imported 151,900 used right-hand rudder cars from Japan,a year-on-year increase of 29%. Among them, Toyota is still the absolute main force, accounting for 33.5% of all imported right-hand rudder cars; Honda is close behind, accounting for 29.8%. The continued popularity of right-hand rudder models has further consolidated Japan's position as thenumber one source of used cars in Russia.

In contrast, imports of left-hand steering cars fell. Data shows that imports of used left-hand rudder cars in the first seven months of this year were 103,800 units, a year-on-year decrease of 6.3%. Zelikov believes that the main reason is that Russia has increased the refund fee for models with more than 160 horsepower, which has significantly reduced the import of large-displacement used cars from South Korea and other sources, as well as some vehicles transshipped through third countries.

However, used cars from China still maintain growth. The report pointed out that there are currently a large number of models below 160 horsepower in the China market. Such vehicles are not affected by high reimbursement charges, so they are more in line with Russia's current import cost structure. In terms of left-hand steering car brands, Volkswagen ranks first with a 20.5% share, Audi has 9.8%, Kia, BMW and Hyundai have 8.7%, 7.6% and 7.6% respectively.

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This set of data once again confirms a new trend in the Russian market: tax and fee policies are reshaping the structure of imported models. The competitiveness of large-displacement and high-power models is declining, while models with moderate displacement and power of no more than 160 horsepower are easier to enter the market and are more in line with the current needs of Russian consumers. At the same time, China's car sources are not limited to China brands, but also include a large number of international brand models circulating in the China market, which provides exporting companies with richer product choices.

Source: Guangdong Good Car

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