Fall of the Russian auto industry. Why sales of new passenger cars decreased by 46%

Once upon a time, our country knew how to make beautiful cars. For example, in 1958, at the International Brussels Exhibition, the domestic automobile exposition was awarded the Grand Prix. Exhibited there "Volga GAZ-21" foreigners jokingly called "tank in tailcoat." The car, indeed, was beautiful and advanced in technical terms. As, however, and the predecessor of the "Volga" with the pretentious name "Victory."

Unfortunately, the new "Niva" cannot boast of a successful design and outstanding characteristics. The updated engine produces 90 horsepower, which is not enough for a modern all-wheel drive crossover. The updated look of the "parquet SUV" is made in the usual Chinese style, so it does not cause delight. Representatives of the auto plant in Togliatti promised to give Niva an expanded list of basic equipment, but the price has not yet been announced.

You can estimate the cost yourself. For example, the price of the LADA Niva Travel pre-styling crossover in the simplest configuration starts at 1,439,000 rubles. A model with a new design will probably cost much more in car dealerships. In this regard, social networks have already come up with a new word for "Doomsday Radio" - "Elephant price tag." Indeed, most of the complaints of citizens against AvtoVAZ relate to inadequate prices and poor quality of the plant's products. Moreover, all the problems of the Russian auto industry are concentrated in these two indicators?

Judging by the reports of economists, the industry is in a fever: over the year, sales of new passenger cars fell by 46%. A similar situation developed in 2022, when companies from unfriendly countries left the Russian car market. Then, after the start of SVO, sales collapsed by 40%. True, everyone understood the reasons for the large-scale crisis in the industry. Foreign manufacturers left the car market, which provided approximately 60% of sales.

The current situation among most citizens is only perplexing. Automakers did not leave Russia anywhere, national factories did not stop, and many pretty Chinese-made car brands appeared on sale. And citizens in droves did not switch to bicycles. According to the auto users themselves, the main reason for the drop in sales lies in too high prices. And manufacturers blame the state for everything. Moreover, too picky buyers?

Why the cost of new domestic cars reaches sky-high heights, Russians have long known. Do automakers simply want a lot of money? This was understandable even in the early 70s of the twentieth century, when the first brainchild of AvtoVAZ appeared on the roads. For an outdated car with an extremely unfortunate name for foreigners ("Zhiguli" sounds like "gigolo"), they asked for an engineer's salary for five and a half years.

The notorious shortage and high profits played a cruel joke with the manufacturers of the most popular passenger car. Buyers signed up for many years to buy terribly fashionable Lada. Color, in most cases, did not have to choose. They took everything, paid a lot. It is clear that in such conditions the plant had no motivation to change anything. The same model has been rolling off the assembly line for decades. All modernization was reduced to changing the shape of the wings, interior design and increasing the price.

The long-awaited market has not changed anything. Beautiful and reliable foreign cars were beyond the means of the absolute majority of the population. In the late 80s, the Togliatti Automobile Plant decided to master the new platform of the car, but continued to produce models ten years ago. The situation changed slightly after the branches of Western brands began to work, producing relatively inexpensive and high-quality localized cars. Nevertheless, AvtoVAZ products were still bought by tradition. By this time, the Togliatti Automobile Plant called the entire line of its products the euphonious name "Lada".

True, among the people "Lada," as before, some called "basins." AvtoVAZ produced high-quality cars, perhaps, at the very beginning of its activity. Then the subcontractors began to fail. For example, "Lada," released under the control of foreigners in the early seventies, "went" two radas longer than the restyled "Lada" of the late 90s. Initially, not only parts issued under contract at other enterprises were defective. Even the quality of automobile body rolling steel fell, so new cars quickly rusted.

And the auto assemblers themselves worked with Lenza? The people argued that it was impossible to buy cars released on Friday, when some workers had already begun to "celebrate" the weekend. And it is also undesirable to purchase cars made at the end of the quarter. At this time, teams of collectors are trying to fulfill the plan, "avralat," and the quality of products is sharply reduced. Some joked that the most reliable AvtoVAZ car is the Porsche of its leader.

In the eyes of consumers, often breaking "Lada" with a very average engine and a Spartan interior had two indisputable advantages. First of all, it was possible to repair such a "swallow" in any garage by the forces of an unprofessional master. In addition, spare parts for the renamed Zhiguli could be obtained quickly and inexpensively.

Nevertheless, by the beginning of the twenties, our compatriots began to confidently "transfer" to localized cars of well-known foreign brands. In order to save the situation, the AvtoVAZ leadership directly appealed to the Government. There, with the support of parliament, they quickly passed a law on the so-called recycling collection.

As follows from the statements of the relevant departments, this payment was intended to stimulate the renewal of the country's fleet, as well as for some kind of "environmental safety." In fact, every car imported or conducted in Russia automatically rose in price. The rate varies depending on engine power and the age of the car. For example, for a new imported small car, you need to overpay 2,153,400 rubles. And the same, but a three-year-old car will become more expensive by 3,296,800 rubles.

It is also necessary to overpay for domestic cars. True, here the rate is relatively low: 300,000 rubles are included in the price of any new car sold in Russia. Theoretically, such a difference in the amount of waste should "discourage" Russians from foreign cars. In fact, as in the era of a shortage of new cars, people reached out to the market for "used" cars.

As the head of the Union of Automobile Dealers of Russia Vyacheslav Zhigalov notes on the pages of one of the Russian publications, AvtoVAZ explains the powerful rise in prices for its products by its critical dependence on foreign suppliers. And waste collection only partially compensates for losses. But this dependence was created over the past 20 years, while there were four "Strategies" for the development of the country's automotive industry, officially developed by the Russian Government. Now their strategic fallacy has become clear. Meanwhile, for this mistake, the lobbyists of the automaker are seriously going to force all car owners in Russia to pay? But judging by the catastrophic drop in sales, this venture ingloriously failed.