Over the past four years, prices for new cars in Russia have increased by 46% — from 2.4 million to 3.5 million rubles, according to Sergey Tselikov, director of the Avtostat agency. At the same time, the ruble remains quite strong against the dollar: as of mid-February, the exchange rate is in the range of 76–78 rubles per dollar.
As a result, the average price of a new car in Russia exceeded 45 thousand dollars. Comparing this indicator with other countries, it is clear that cars in our country are becoming one of the most expensive in the world.
For comparison: in Germany, the average price of a new car is about 40 thousand dollars, in Australia — 35 thousand, in South Korea — 30 thousand, in China and Japan — 22–23 thousand. Cars are more expensive than in Russia only in Canada (62 thousand), Great Britain (61 thousand), the USA (52 thousand) and Israel (50 thousand).
The weighted average price strongly depends on the market structure, Tselikov notes. In the USA and Canada, the high cost is determined by the high proportion of large SUVs and pickups (more than half of sales). In Great Britain, the high proportion of the premium segment and the strong pound affect. In Israel — very high import duties.
In Russia, relatively high prices are primarily due to tariff policy. Although the market structure is shifted towards affordable domestic and Chinese models, when imported or SKD assembly, the price of a car increases by an average of two times.
