AvtoVAZ head Maxim Sokolov has again expressed concerns about the low prices of Chinese foreign cars. In his opinion, cars with roots in the Celestial Empire may threaten the Russian auto industry.
Sokolov's dissatisfaction was caused by Kaiyi E5 sedans (assembled in Kaliningrad) costing 1.35 million rubles, which is comparable to the prices of the new Lada Iskra, which is not yet on sale.
Kaiyi will be sold for 1.3 million — about the same as Lada Iskra. It turns out that the Chinese auto industry is suppressing sales of not only our highly localized domestic cars like Largus and Vesta, not to mention Aura. It will get to them with such discounts.
He called what is happening unprecedented dumping, which requires attention and investigation. According to him, Chinese manufacturers are using aggressive pricing strategies, which threatens not only AvtoVAZ, but the entire Russian auto industry.
The head of the company told reporters that similar cases are observed in international markets, where anti-dumping investigations are carried out. Such procedures can take a long time, which creates additional difficulties for domestic manufacturers.
On April 19, the production of Lada Iskra was launched in Tolyatti, which will take an intermediate place between the Granta and Vesta models. Official sales will begin on July 20. Exact prices and configurations have not yet been disclosed.
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Official price of Lada Iskra announced
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The first Lada Iskra passed inspection and went to dealerships