Parallel imports keeps Russia’s luxury car market buoyant

Parallel sanctioning busting imports are keeping Russia’s luxury car market going despite western owned brands pulling out of the country.

A report by Russian news site Kommersant on Tuesday, November 22 said that vehicles are still reaching official suppliers despite the ban on exports to the country. Most are also said to be adhering to registered dealership requirements such as honouring warranties and servicing requirements.

In many cases the vehicles are low mileage or pre-registered vehicles.

Avtodom’s Andrei Olkhovsky said that they had planned to import these vehicles already back in 2020 but that there were delays to the project, but that recent events had spurred demand.

He said: “Despite the lower demand, we can offer almost the entire range of Lamborghini vehicles. The difference from the usual situation is that our customers cannot order a car with their options personally and must focus on what is available in showrooms. ”

Yulia Ovchinnikova, Development Director of Klyuchavto said that the parallel imports are not single deliveries but large-scale batch imports. Klyuchavto has received more than 4,000 cars through parallel imports including Toyota, Lexus, Mazda, Mercedes, BMW, Audi and Land Rover.

They are also receiving more common units such as Toyota’s RAV4, Toyota’s Camry and Toyota’s Avalon.

Alexey Starikov, Deputy General Director for Sales of New Cars of Avilon AG said that demand remains high and that it is just a question of time before they can deliver the car that a customer requires.  

Ovchinnikova said that the market had started to move away from branded dealerships to those that can supply all models, but where they still receive the same level of service and post-warranty support. That includes the availability of certified equipment and the software required for diagnostics.

Sanctions are only an effective tool when all countries adhere to them, with countries like South Africa well known for its sanction busting activities during the apartheid years. Russia is no different with the country’s friends allowing parallel imports that are keeping Russia’s luxury car market buoyant

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