Due to the invasion of Ukraine, a bunch of global brands left Russia. Russians in this case are urged to find alternatives to replace those brands from cars to smartphones. Apparently, the brands benefiting from this alternative are China. Industry data reported that Xiaomi and Geely have had sales surge recently. Previously in Russia, iPhones and Samsung Galaxies were bestsellers. However, right now, Counterpoint Research said that Xiaomi and Realme, Chinese products, are in the top sales charts.
Even before the war, Chinese manufacturers were popular in Russia. In December 2021 the smartphone market of smartphones covered 40%. Now, Chinese brands have taken almost the entire market, accounting for 95%. On the other hand, Apple and Samsung reported that their shares have dropped from 53% to only 3% combined at the same time. It happened when they fled the country.
Currently, Chinese carmakers like Chery and Great Wall Motor become the top 10 passenger vehicle brands. On the other hand, other brands like Mercedes and Germany BMW have disappeared, said S&P Global Mobility. Autostat, a data provider, reported that Russians bought many Chinese cars last year. The result is that new car sales rose 7% in 2022 or 121.800 vehicles. The sales continued to increase despite the market crash.
Russia’s most popular homegrown carmaker, Lada also announced its market share growth. It was from around 22% to 28% in 2022. According to the media, these businesses are the last ones standing in Russia. Global automakers left out of Russia due to the Ukraine invasion including Hyundai and Kia. A founder of Beijing consulting firm Sino Auto Insights, Tu Le, said that it left a huge hole in the market, so Chinese are happy to fill the hole.
