Russian companies are switching to domestic cars. They are not so much more expensive than foreign cars

Business representatives told Izvestia about the transition to domestic cars, which have risen in price in the current conditions not as much as foreign brands. Thus, Yakitoria will double the purchase of Russian cars, expand the fleet at the expense of domestic Wildberries and M.Video cars.

The purchase of Russian cars is relevant for those companies that are now forced to expand their fleet or change vehicles, said Sergey Mironov, vice president of the Federation of Restaurateurs and Hoteliers. Vladimir Matyagin, President of the National Association of Freight Road Transport “Gruzavtotrans”, says the same thing. Foreign cars have risen in price greatly, and in leasing for five years their cost does not pay off. In addition, manufacturers are now refusing to deliver on orders made even last year, he said.

European and American brands have risen in price by 1.5–2 times in rubles, and some models by 2.5 times, Egor Klopenko, an economist and founder of the club of venture investors Itleaders, confirmed. At the same time, prices for Russian cars grew only by 10-20%.

As Yakitoria told Izvestia, the company doubled its purchases of Russian cars compared to last year: in 2022, 300 Lada Granta hatchbacks were purchased.

“For a long time, Yakitori’s car fleet consisted mainly of foreign cars. The purchase price of Russian-made cars is much lower than foreign cars, they are not so expensive to maintain. Therefore, it was decided to make the domestic product the main transport for delivery.”– said Alexander Muratov, development director of the company – the owner of the Yakitoria brand.

M.Video does not rule out further expansion of the fleet, including through Russian models, the company’s press service said. Wildberries said that they have already purchased domestically produced cars and plan to further expand the fleet with our cars. The online store has not yet disclosed the purchase volumes and transport models. The meat processing company Okraina is also switching to Russian cars. According to co-owner Vitaliy Deledivka, this year his firm has purchased several domestic cars instead of foreign ones.