Experts told how parallel imports will affect the Russian car market

The government legalized the parallel import of goods, mainly cars and spare parts, which can be imported into the country without the permission of the copyright holder. Experts interviewed by the AUTOSTAT agency told whether this measure would help improve the situation with availability in the Russian car market in the absence of official deliveries of new cars and how much such cars would be in demand among buyers, with account of their cost and terms of warranty service. According to Andrey Olkhovsky, General Director of Avtodom Group of Companies, parallel imports will not solve the shortage problem, as the main problem lies in the regulations and restrictions on working with Russia on the part of manufacturers and retailers. Dealers are limited by the validity of dealer agreements, but, if desired, this will be one of the options for continuing the existence of the business and maintaining its performance. Meanwhile, Avtodom is ready to provide a guarantee for cars imported through parallel imports, but for a fee, as it is not planned to be included in the cost of the car.

Otherwise, customers can buy a car without the possibility to carry out warranty service. In turn, Andrey Terlyukevich, General Director of AvtoSpetsCentre Group of Companies, notes that parallel imports are several times more expensive than supplies from official distributors, so there is a possibility of a shift in consumer demand for Chinese cars and used cars. Previously, vehicles were supplied directly from the distributor and included logistics costs. With the help of parallel imports, delivery of cars to Russia will be carried out by intermediaries, which will affect the final cost not only for buyers, but also for dealers. Most likely, parallel imports will be carried out through Turkey, Kazakhstan, China, and Armenia. "Regarding spare parts, we can say that the quality will be absolutely the same if we are talking about the supply of original spare parts using parallel import channels. But it should be noted that in addition to this, "gray" deliveries will go to the market through parallel channels, and then parts of dubious origin and low quality will be available to customers, which can subsequently affect other parts of the car, which can harm the vehicle and incur the greatest losses.

In the event of problems associated with the installation of poor quality parts, you will have to incur additional costs for their elimination. Quality, safety and service life are the three main points on which there is no guarantee when using "gray" spare parts," comments Alexey Gulyaev, Deputy General Director of Service at AVILON AG.