Over the past year, Russia has seen another increase in the price of winter tires, although this time Russians tried to stock up on them in advance from the summer. This data is provided by Avtonovosti Dnya, based on a study by the YuKassa service and the Check Index analytical resource.
It is noted that the number of purchases of winter tires in the summer increased by 31%, and their average check increased by 9%: up to 6890 rubles. Summer tires also began to be bought 10% more often. They rose in price by an average of 5%, to 3,620 rubles per piece.
Russians are most willing to buy domestic and Chinese tires: manufacturers occupy the niches vacated after the departure of Western players. For some Russian tire manufacturers, China's leading position in tire imports to the country in the budget segment creates excess production capacity that cannot be directed to export due to sanctions.
At the same time, due to the greater availability of production materials, Chinese, as well as Korean and Taiwanese tire products sometimes cost less than domestic ones. These three Asian countries together occupy half of the Russian tire market. But there are nuances.
The head of ROAD (Association "Russian Automobile Dealers") Alexey Podshchekoldin noted in a comment to Autonews that studded tires are unpopular in China, and China has not yet mastered its mass production for the Russian market.
Ilya Plisov, a member of the board of the Union of Car Services of Russia, highlighted two more points in a comment to the same Autonews that buyers of Chinese winter tires should take into account. The studding of the Chinese product, which some companies are now engaged in, does not always have the necessary quality for domestic roads.
In addition, according to him, there is no current Runflat technology in China - it allows you to get to the nearest car service on a punctured tire.