More and more Chinese trucks appear on the Russian market
Manufacturers from Europe, the USA and Japan are replaced by companies from China. Will equipment from China be able to meet the needs of the Russian market?
Photo: Kekäläinen Andrey/Photobank Lori
Manufacturers from Europe, the USA and Japan are replaced by companies from China. Will equipment from China be able to meet the needs of the Russian market?
Instead of Volvo, Scania, Mercedes, Isuzu and MAN that left Russia, the goods will most likely be carried by Chinese Foton, SAMC, Shacman, Howo, FAW, DongFeng. On average, trucks from these companies are slightly more expensive than Russian ones, but significantly cheaper than European or Japanese ones. For example, a KamAZ 65115 dump truck with a carrying capacity of 15 tons costs about 7 million rubles. Its Chinese counterpart will be more expensive, but the carrying capacity will be greater, says a sales manager at a dealership in Moscow.
"Chinese" with such a carrying capacity, probably, is not even supplied to Russia. There is a load capacity of 20 tons. In terms of money, you need to prepare that it will be a little more expensive than KamAZ. An analogue, which will be an analogue of this KamAZ, will probably cost 8 million, and the delivery time will be 120 working days, we will be able to bring such vehicles. What we are now ordering is more expensive and with a greater carrying capacity. We bring 6×6 25 tons, it will be a Howo dump truck. The network of spare parts and service is developed. We have our own large service in the Moscow region, mobile technical teams, it all works.”
If we talk about familiar foreign brands, then, for example, a 2020 Volvo will cost about 20 million, although the carrying capacity is 32 tons, but the car is two years old, and for this money you can buy 2.5 new Howo or Shacman.
Meanwhile, sales of Chinese trucks in Russia continue to grow. In June, they accounted for 33% of truck sales, and in July this figure rose to 44%. At the same time, the share of domestic companies decreased from 54% in June to 43% in July. True, KamAZ still remains the undisputed leader of the segment.
Many experts believe that Chinese cars do not live up to the quality of operation, they often break down, and their resource is much less. This means that in market conditions it is difficult for them to compete with KamAZ or manufacturers from other countries. But there is another point of view.
The carrier from Kaluga Maxim, who has 18 units of construction equipment in the fleet - dump trucks, concrete mixers and much more, is switching to the "Chinese".
“We buy Chinese cars. We started with KamAZ trucks. European cars absolutely now cost space money - both maintenance and purchase. Payback of cars, if you take Chinese manufacturers - five years, and European - ten. We also have Europeans in the park - MAN, Mercedes - but now we are slowly switching to Chinese Howo, Shacman. In general, there are no problems with buying cars. At the beginning of the year, cars jumped in price very high, then rolled back to the level of last year's prices. In comparison with KamAZ, KamAZ specialized in the region cost 6 million that year, and this year already 7.5 million. And Chinese cars - 8 million.
Andrey Degtyarev, general director of the Spetsdrive service station, believes that Chinese cars break down too often.
Andrey Degtyarev
general director of the service station "Spetsdrive"
“They are certainly not as reliable as Japanese cars. We do not service European cars, so I can't say anything here. Chinese ones break more often than, for example, Japanese ones. On the other hand, the cost of spare parts for Chinese cars is several times lower than for Japanese ones, and the manufacturing technology and work technology are borrowed from Japanese ones. Something like a Japanese idea in a Chinese version. In terms of quality, probably, yes, they are inferior to Japanese cars. If there was a choice, then they would not be chosen, and if there is no choice, then they will be chosen, and they will ride as much as they can ride.
The expansion of Chinese heavy equipment to the Russian market will only gain momentum. Market participants say that many Chinese companies plan to expand their offer and certify in Russia not only trucks, but also concrete mixers, excavators, bulldozers, tractors and other special equipment.
