Lada or Nothing. The Ministry of Industry and Trade Blocks Deliveries of Korean and Japanese Cars
It will soon become almost impossible to import a foreign car from abroad (cars are currently being imported to Russia from several countries, from Japan and South Korea to the United States). The authorities are changing the rules for calculating the recycling fee and blocking the supply of used cars. How much time is left if you don’t want to switch to a Lada?
Beware, the doors are closing: rumors that in Russia the recycling fee will depend not on engine size, but on power, and that it will hit even private imports, turned out to be true.
A few days ago, alarming news came from Tolyatti (the birthplace of AvtoVAZ, which says a lot): the authorities are considering the possibility of requiring citizens who bring a car for personal use with an engine more powerful than 160 hp to pay a recycling fee at the full commercial rate.
And now the Minister of Industry Anton Alikhanov has confirmed the rumors.
— We reported to the Chairman (of the Government — Ed.) during the strategic session about the need to extend the recycling fee to those cars that are imported by individuals in certain segments, that is, 160 horsepower and above. We will also extend the recycling fee to them.
Industry Minister Anton Alikhanov: All cars with more than 160 hp will be subject to a commercial recycling fee. Photo: Roscongress
Currently, when importing a car with an engine capacity of up to 3 liters for personal use (this means that it cannot be sold for a year), individuals have the right to pay for scrap at preferential rates: 3,400 rubles for cars up to three years old and 5,200 rubles for cars from three to five years old.
Let us recall: the commercial recycling fee in 2025 for cars with a 1-2 liter engine is 667,400 rubles, and for cars with a 2-3 liter engine - 1,875,400 rubles. The benefit for individuals provides very significant savings when buying a car.
Bringing cars privately can save up to 2 million rubles. Photo: Andrey Gorbachev / Wikimedia
Currently, this loophole is used by buyers of new foreign cars that are imported from China, and buyers of imported used cars aged 3–5 years: the lowest customs duties apply to this category.
Import of new cars from China for a specific customer is not yet widespread. Most dealers who are engaged in parallel import prefer to sell cars from stock with payment of a commercial recycling fee.
But the flow of used cars does not dry up. According to Avtostat, 394.8 thousand used cars were imported to the Russian Federation in 2024. Most of them (57.2%) were imported from Japan, with South Korea in second place in popularity with a share of 14.1%.
More than half of used cars come from Japan. Photo: Wikimedia
Right-hand drive cars are mostly a Far Eastern specialty, but Korean cars are suitable for everyone, because they have the usual left-hand drive and the headlights shine in the right direction.
The new rules for calculating the recycling fee effectively block a significant portion of used cars. 160 hp is not a lot of power by today's standards. Only modest small cars will remain.
The intrigue regarding the recycling fee for cars with more than 160 hp will not last long. Anton Alikhanov made it clear that the new rules will come into effect in the near future. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is already counting on supporting the auto industry with these funds.
— As for the volumes (of collecting the new recycling fee — Ed.), it’s tens of billions of rubles. We made different estimates, from 40 to 60 billion rubles of additional income this year.
AvtoVAZ faces production and sales decline in 2025. Photo: Yan.gorev / Wikimedia
In addition to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, AvtoVAZ will benefit, as it is currently in a difficult situation: both production and sales are falling. Imported foreign cars continue to seriously compete with domestic products.
For the price of a new Lada Vesta, you can drive a 2021 Hyundai Sonata with a 160 hp engine or a Hyundai Avante (known as Elantra in Russia) with a 180 hp engine from Korea to Moscow. The mileage of such cars will be 50-80 thousand km in hothouse Korean conditions without broken roads, cold weather and road salt. Prices for Japanese cars are even more interesting - you can already take a closer look at crossovers there.
For the price of a Lada Vesta, you can import a car from Korea that is two classes higher. Photo: Encar
At the same time, the ground is being cleared for future sales of the Lada Azimut. If the new crossover costs 2.5-3 million rubles, it will have to compete with larger family Korean crossovers, such as the Hyundai Tucson, Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento.
But with the new recycling fee, most cars will become 660 thousand rubles more expensive — they will no longer be competitors to Lada. This is especially true for Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento. They have 2.2-liter engines, which means the markup will be almost 1.9 million rubles. With the new rules from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, a family car will become a luxury.
newizv.ru
