On January 21, 2026, Russia's mainstream financial media "Kommersant" quoted joint calculation data from Gazprom Car Rental Company and the industry publication "Automotive Business Review" to release a heavy report. In 2025, the distribution system of China automobile brands in Russia ushered in in-depth adjustments. 643 sales showrooms were closed throughout the year, and the total number of distribution outlets dropped by 7% year-on-year to about 2600, and the market share dropped from 67% to 64%. This is the first large-scale channel contraction of China auto brands after years of rapid expansion in Russia after Western auto companies withdrew from the Russian market due to geopolitical factors. It reflects the deep changes in supply and demand restructuring in the local auto market and industry competition.

The scale of this channel adjustment has hit a new high in recent years. The number of closures of 643 companies has increased by 40% compared with 2024, which is more than three times the number of closures of 187 companies in 2023. The 459 new distribution stores opened in the same period are only One third of the new number in 2024. Alexander Kornev, head of the importer relations department of Gazprom's Car Rental Company, revealed in an interview with Kommersant that in 2025, about a quarter of China's car sales outlets in Russia will either directly shut down or complete brand transformation. In addition, more than 100 car retailers have completely stopped purchasing complete vehicles from China and instead chose to cooperate with local Russian assembly plants to sell car products produced locally from Chinese models. The trend of channel localization and transformation is obvious.

It is worth noting that this channel contraction is not the overall retreat of China brands in Russia, but the market's "survival of the fittest" and pattern optimization. Data shows that there are currently only three China brands in the Russian market, namely Haval, Chery and Geely, operating in a single-brand dealer model. Their single-store sales can easily exceed the break-even point, becoming the "backbone" of China brands in Russia; while brands such as BAIC, Pentium and Jianghuai have become the main targets for dealers to withdraw due to poor sales performance. In contrast, the localization cooperation of some China brands and new power brands still maintain the pace of channel expansion. Ideal and Avita will add 44 and 33 new dealer stores in Russia respectively in 2025. Chery, Geely and Chang 'an, with the number of exhibition halls of 216, 213 and 200, ranks among the top three China brands in Russia.

Judging from the overall pattern of the Russian automobile market, channel adjustment shows the characteristics of "one loss and the other growth". In 2025, 678 new exhibition halls will be opened by various automobile brands in Russia, a decrease of nearly 47% compared with 2024, and 763 will be closed, a year-on-year decrease of 22.6%. The total number of automobile dealers in Russia will decrease by 85 to 4070. The overall market has entered a stock competition stage. While China's brand channels are shrinking, local Russian brands have achieved rapid rise. In 2025, local car sales surged 64.2% to 697,700 units, and their market share rose to 52.9%. Local brands such as Solaris and Tenet, as well as Belgee in Belarus and KGM in South Korea, have become new hot spots in dealer layout. Among them, Solaris's sales increased 2.3 times year-on-year due to the localized assembly of Chinese models. Become a "dark horse" in the local market.

Regarding the channel development trend of China automobile brands in Russia,"Kommersant" quoted the views of many industry experts and pointed out that as the market adjustment stabilizes, the pace of store closures of China brands will slow down in 2026, but the localized transformation of channels will continue-more original China automobile showrooms will be replaced with new local Russian brands to adapt to local industrial policies and market demand. If China brands want to achieve sustainable development in the Russian market, they need to shift from "scale expansion" to "quality improvement." On the one hand, they need to strengthen localized product research and development to improve the adaptability of models to the Russian climate and usage scenarios. On the other hand, optimize the channel layout, promote the integrated development of "vehicle export" and "local assembly", and at the same time establish a dealer support system that is more suitable for the local market to achieve the common growth of brands and channels.

The channel adjustment of China's automobile brands in Russia is not only a microcosm of the global automobile trade pattern and the influence of geopolitical factors, but also an inevitable test for the transformation of China's automobile exports from "volume increase" to "quality increase." Against the background of increasingly fierce competition in overseas markets, only by accurately grasping local market needs, adapting industrial policies, and achieving localized operations can we gain a firm foothold in the wave of the global market.

Source: Automobile Export Link

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