[Moscow News] Demand for "China brands" in the Russian used car market is accelerating. Many industry insiders who will attend the ForAuto 2026 Auto Business Forum in Moscow on February 26 said in interviews with Russian agencies that the strong trade in used China cars is not exactly equivalent to consumers 'sudden establishment of comprehensive trust" in China cars. The more critical thrust comes from the high share of China brands in the Russian new car market in the past few years-the new cars bought that year are gradually entering second-hand circulation according to the vehicle life cycle.

Alexander Kovalev, founder of Mechanics, an external communication agency for the automotive industry, pointed out that the growth of used China cars is first the result of "stock transfer": after many years of new cars dominated by China brands, more and more vehicles are in the replacement cycle, which will naturally push supply to the second-hand market. Roman Titov, deputy general manager of the Avilon Group's used car business, shares a similar view. He emphasized that what we are seeing so far is more like "normal car replacement logic", including car owners upgrading and changing levels, model updates and iterations, corporate fleet updates, lease expiration disposal, etc., and is not the "centralized selling by car owners" imagined by the outside world.

On the supply path, a more sensitive "supplementary channel" has also emerged in the Russian market-transporting cars directly from China's domestic market to Russia, mainly operated by individuals or resellers. Vadim Chernousov, head of the used car sales department of ROlF, admitted that this route has recently become popular in the China car sector, but with the implementation of Russia's new recycling fee (commonly referred to in the industry as "refund charges") system, it is expected that a considerable number of vehicles will no longer have difficulty entering Russia through personal channels. However, he added that there was still cost space for models with power of 160 horsepower and less, so "supply would not be completely interrupted."

Changes are also taking place on the channel side. David Pavlov, head of Major Expert, observed that about half of the used China cars in "relatively new condition" on the market are currently traded through the dealer system, and the other half are traded by individuals and resellers, but the proportion of dealers is gradually increasing. This change means that the pricing, testing and quality assurance services for used China cars are being taken over by a more standardized commercial system.

Data previously released by AUTOSTAT also confirms the popularity: in 2025, Russia purchased (sold) more than 283,000 used cars of China brands, a year-on-year increase of 44%, and its market share increased from 3.3% to 4.5%.

Source: Guangdong Good Car

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