The Ministry of Industry and Trade announced the resumption of the state program of preferential car loans, for which 10.2 billion rubles were allocated in 2022. Currently, the department is working on the parameters for the implementation of the program, including funding and the expected sales volume. Experts interviewed by the agency "AUTOSTAT" told how this measure can support the Russian car market in the absence of supplies and falling demand against the backdrop of high prices.
“We expect that the program of state support for car loans will be in demand in full. When buying a new car, it will reduce the financial burden of the client and receive additional discounts. According to VTB, preferential car loans will become available as early as the beginning of the third quarter,” says the Acting Head of the Autocrediting Department at VTB, Aleksey Bocharnikov. According to Kirill Volkov, the head of the car loan department at Absolut Bank, the main problem in the car loan segment is the lack of supply of new cars on the market. If the state program is launched this year, the demand for this product is likely to be quite high. Given the increase in prices and the shortage of popular foreign cars, domestic brands are in great demand, primarily in the regions.
“It is important to note that the state program has historically applied only to cars produced in Russia. And taking into account the closure/stopping of the assembly of some Western brands at localized production facilities, it may have a much smaller effect on the market than required. In general, taking into account the current problems with supplies and components, it will be problematic to satisfy the demand that has arisen with the resumption of issuance of preferential car loans and, most likely, this will lead to an even greater shortage of cars. As a result, their prices will go up, which can become a real problem for the success of the state program,” says Alexander Potapov, deputy leader of the Otkritie Avto finance tribe.
