Tens of thousands of cars are being exported to Russia through gray-market routes via China, despite export sanctions following Moscow’s invasion of Kyiv.
A growing number of cars are sold as zero-mileage used vehicles in Russia but are brand new cars and sold by China as used.
Among them are Toyota and German luxury models, according to data from Russian research firm Autostat and interviews with people involved in the trade.
Most of the imported cars are made in China, where many global brands have factories.
A car trader based in China’s Sichuan province said the practice skirts the need to get automaker approval for sales to Russia.
Zero-mileage cars are sold cheaply in China but fetch similar prices to new cars in Russia, according to a Russian dealer and vehicle shipping documents reviewed by Reuters.
Dmitry Zazulin, sales director of the Moscow car dealership Panavto-Zapad, said the number of used cars has grown significantly.
“I can’t speak for everyone selling cars now, but car imports are currently very high, with vehicles coming from different countries, both new and used. If we look at the latest Autostat reports, the number of used cars has begun to increase significantly and is showing strong growth,” he said.
“Unfortunately, I believe there are some dishonest players in our market who try to sell used cars as new, but we don’t do that,” Zazulin added.
Automakers that prohibit sales to Russia say they are doing their best to prevent unauthorised exports.
In a statement, Mercedes said probing breaches was “time-consuming and complex”, saying it requires third-party assistance.
BMW said it had told its Chinese dealers to strictly oppose potential exports to Russia.
