- Статьи
- Auto
- A protective measure: how will the new recycling facility affect the market and car prices
A protective measure: how will the new recycling facility affect the market and car prices
The new rules for calculating recycling will not have a significant impact on car prices, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. At the same time, the existing benefits at the rates of this fee remain and there are no plans to review them, said Anton Alikhanov, the head of the department. Izvestia found out what the Russian automotive industry will get from the recycling adjustment and how it will affect the market.
The benefits remain
The Ministry of Industry and Trade does not plan to revise the parameters of preferential recycling rates for individual importers. Anton Alikhanov, the head of the department, told reporters about this during a press briefing.
— We do not see any prerequisites for lowering the level of 160 hp, at which preferential recycling rates are maintained for individual importers who import cars for personal use. This issue is not even being discussed," stressed the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation.
According to the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, an analysis of the current import structure has shown that artificial advantages have been formed for the import of vehicles by individuals compared to the official market and dealers. So, if in the third quarter of last year the share of such cars in the total volume of cars imported to Russia was about 37%, now this figure is already 76%, said the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
— This is a direct indicator of the market's transition to a gray, uncivilized segment, in which the participants in the process neglect to pay the required tax payments, being, in fact, full-fledged commercial players. It also became a prerequisite for the formation of new approaches to the calculation of waste collection," said Anton Alikhanov.
At the same time, the minister stressed, benefits remain for citizens who import a car with an engine capacity of up to 160 hp for personal use. As before, rates of 3.4 thousand rubles (for new cars) and 5.2 thousand rubles (for models older than three years) remain for them. According to the official, this is more than 80% of the total Russian fleet at the moment.
The new rules will come into effect on December 1, 2025 and will not affect those who paid for the recycling before their entry into force, the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade reminded. He noted that specifically to support citizens who ordered and paid for cars with more than 160 "horses" abroad and could face delays in their delivery to Russia, it was decided to postpone the date of entry into force of the new rules by a month.
— According to our data, the vast majority of those who ordered a car have already managed to import it to Russia and pay the recycling fee according to the previous rules, — said Anton Alikhanov.
How will recycling affect prices
The minister also spoke about the impact of recycling on the market and car prices. According to him, it is not the amount of scrap that has a greater impact on cost fluctuations, but the volatility of exchange rates, logistics costs and the rate on car loans. The head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade noted that innovations may affect the cost of private imports, especially of "sanctioned" foreign cars.
— At the same time, based on the dynamics of prices at authorized dealers, after two indexation steps, which took place in October last year and in January this year, we did not see a dramatic increase in prices, which was predicted by a number of experts. At the same time, we ensure that adjustments to the recycling process do not significantly affect the cost of domestic cars, as we provide our manufacturers with a range of industrial subsidies," he stressed.
The ministry estimates the total level of car sales this year at about 1.5 million units, of which 1.25–1.3 million units will be for passenger cars. Next year, the market will also be influenced by monetary policy decisions and other macroeconomic parameters. According to the head of the department, the volume of stocks, which is gradually decreasing, and a certain pent-up demand are also having an impact. However, the Ministry of Industry and Trade expects to exceed the current year's figures, including through measures to stimulate demand.
"There is no task to close the market"
According to Anton Alikhanov, previous decisions regarding the recycling fee have made it possible to preserve the Russian automotive industry, which suffered significantly three years ago from the imposition of sanctions. At the moment, almost all production sites have been restarted, many of which have been idle for some time, or even completely closed, the minister noted. Their total production capacity is estimated at 1.6 million vehicles per year, almost 115 billion rubles have been invested in them since 2022, and the planned investment volume is about 350 billion rubles more.
In ten months, these enterprises produced a total of almost 300 thousand cars, which is 1.4 times higher than in the same period a year earlier, the Ministry of Industry and Trade reported. The ministry said that since 2022, 91 projects worth about 111 billion rubles, as well as more than 50 R&D projects worth 11 billion rubles, have been funded under the Automotive Components program of the Industrial Development Fund alone. As a result, almost half of the 740 critical positions for automotive components that were identified in 2022 have already been closed by domestic manufacturers.
— Currently, work is underway to restart two car factories: production sites in Shushary, Leningrad region (the former Toyota plant. — Izvestia) and in Nizhny Novgorod (the former VW plant. — Izvestia). Currently, active negotiations are underway with new partners, and we expect that these enterprises will also resume their work next year," Anton Alikhanov said.
At the same time, the minister stressed, the approach to working with foreign partners was radically revised, designed to prevent a repeat of the situation in 2022, when a number of brands "simply got up and left, taking with them a substantial part of the technological base, abandoning people and abandoning all obligations." According to him, now, under the terms of the concluded contracts, the rights to technologies, design documentation, software, etc. remain with the Russian side. Russian investors have been found for all the abandoned facilities, who now have control over these sites, said the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
— We have already said more than once that we do not have the goal of "closing" the market so that our manufacturers live in a lack of competition — this will certainly slow down their own development. It is important to create conditions for local production to be more profitable than direct import, and this is a normal global practice. And, as we can see from the example of successfully relaunched sites, this approach has its effect," Anton Alikhanov said.
Whitewash and protect
Car dealers and domestic automakers support the adjustment of the recycling calculation rules. In their opinion, these measures will make it possible to put market participants in the same conditions and provide support to Russian car factories. At the same time, the new mechanism will affect the cost of a fairly narrow segment of cars, said Vadim Chernousov, Sales Director of Rolf Group. According to him, about 32% of new car sales are made up of domestic cars, and 60% are models of Chinese brands, including localized ones. The remaining approximately 8% are cars supplied by alternative imports, he noted.
— Of these machines, only about 15% fall under the new rules for calculating waste — these are primarily premium models. Thus, these changes will have no effect on mass-produced car models. At the same time, the new mechanism will eliminate a loophole for those who actually conduct commercial activities under the guise of private imports, which will whitewash the automotive market," Vadim Chernousov emphasized.
The implementation of the project for the recent launch of Tenet car production at the Kaluga Region automobile plant (formerly VW) would have been much more difficult without protective measures for domestic automakers taken by the Russian government, said Andrey Karagin, CEO of AGR Holding. One of these measures is the recycling fee, aimed at supporting local car production before import, he stressed.
"That is why the release of Tenet nonsense models was immediately launched with a high degree of localization, which will increase in accordance with the commitments made," he said.
Currently, the Kaluga company is focused on the production of three crossovers — T4, T7 and T8, said Andrey Karagin. Next year, the plant will begin production of another model, the Tenet T9, he said.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
