Question of the day: why should millions of Russians pay for the billions in losses of the Moskvich plant?

Podshchekoldin recalled that in order to achieve profitability, the capital's enterprise needs to sell 40 thousand cars a year, manufactured using the full production cycle. However, in the first half of the year, just over seven thousand cars were sold. The head of ROAD also stated that without significant discounts on the Moskvich 3, sales would simply stop.

Podshchekoldin expressed doubts about the viability of the Moskvich project. In his opinion, it will most likely be closed. He recalled that he initially considered Moscow not the most suitable place for car production, arguing that it was more profitable to make money. He proposed moving production to the Urals or Siberia, which would simplify logistics and reduce costs. Currently, according to him, car kits are delivered from China across the country to Moscow, and then finished cars are sent back to Siberia, the Urals and other regions.

If at the end of last year the Moskvich 3 was among the top ten most popular new cars in the Russian Federation, then by the end of the second quarter it had dropped to 15th place. From April to June, each Moskvich dealer sold an average of only 13-14 cars per month, which is an extremely low figure.

And it would be fine if such sales and losses were recorded for the first time. But by the end of 2023, the situation was no better.

In response to the demand crisis in 2024, the Moskvich plant, following the unkind traditions of AvtoVAZ, raised prices for the most popular model, the Moskvich 3.

New prices for Moskvich 3 in 2025 look like this:

All versions of the Moskvich 3 are equipped with a 1.5-liter turbo engine with a capacity of 136 hp. This model does not have all-wheel drive.

Naturally, the new prices collapsed in the dealers' showrooms, which received the right to give significant discounts and gifts of up to 200 thousand rubles for the purchase of the Moscow chariot. But it was not possible to ensure sales growth.

According to the agency "AUTOSTAT", the total sales of the domestic brand for the first half of 2025 reached 7.4 thousand cars. This result is 24% worse than in January-June 2024.

But the theater of economic absurdity did not end there. At the same time as the products of the former AZLK, the originals of the Chinese JAC JS4 are present on the Russian car market as if nothing had happened, at exactly the same prices!

Thus, Moskvich and JAC, being partners, are competitors in the same market.

And it would be fine if the sweet couple sold their cars in the complete absence of other market participants. But they are opposed by much stronger and more authoritative in the eyes of Russians "Havail", "Chery", "Geely" and "Changan", which have flooded the Russian Federation with their B- and C-class crossovers for every taste and budget, including cars with more powerful engines, more interesting design and all-wheel drive.

At the same time, there is no hope that Moskvich will be saved from financial collapse by other models. The Moskvich 6 sedan is sold on a microscopic scale, the Moskvich 8 is delayed between China and Moscow, and the three million ruble electric car is needed only by collectors of the most unfortunate cars on the Russian market - in 2.5 years, only 2,587 units have been sold in the Russian Federation.

Independent experts are confident that the Moskvich's problems began on the day of the plant's opening - November 23, 2022. They are quite clearly illustrated by a ceremonial photo from the ceremonial procedure. In the frame are the Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis Manturov, the Mayor of Moscow Sergei Sobyanin and the General Director of KAMAZ Sergei Kogogin.

And where, excuse me, have the plant’s Chinese partners hidden?

Where are the Russian manufacturers of components for the new domestic car?

But they are not and could not be in the project, which only imitated the car assembly production. Because the Chinese from JAC sold us ready-made cars. Then, at the request of the Russian buyer, they disassembled them a little and sent them to Moscow under the guise of "car kits". In turn, the former Renault workers assembled the cars for the second time (!), gluing Russian-language nameplates to them. After that, the finished products were sent to the cities and villages of the vast Russia, in many ways repeating the same route by which they arrived from China.

Double assembly costs, double logistics costs... So where's the business in that?

That's right, it doesn't exist. There was no hope of income from such production. But the federal minister, the mayor of Moscow and the head of the state-owned KamAZ truck plant were able to report on import substitution in the auto industry, which was abandoned by all Western, Korean and Japanese companies in the same year 2022.

The PR effect was absolutely undeniable. But very short-lived.

It soon became clear that the mass Russian buyer was not at all swooning over the old Soviet brand “Moskvich”, which, if remembered by the older generation of Russians, was for cars of poor quality, assembled with the help of a sledgehammer and that same mother.

Incidentally, it turned out that they also didn't guess right with the flagship model "Moskvich 3". The buyer didn't see any advantages over competitors in it. Therefore, the initial plans of officials today read like a fairy tale.

"As for production volumes, it is planned that in 2023, at least 50 thousand cars will be assembled at the plant using large-knockdown assembly technology, including 10 thousand units with an electric motor, in 2024 - at least 100 thousand units, including 20 thousand units with an electric motor. At the same time, 50% of this volume will be produced using large-knockdown assembly technology, another 50% - using small-knockdown assembly technology," the 2022 press release said.

Finally, after 2.5 years, the picture with the promised localization of Moskvich is completely unclear.

Supplying cars with Russian mats, Borsky plant glass and GLONASS devices is a good thing. But there is no point in talking about serious localization. Therefore, there is no point in counting on competitive prices. But the issue of compensation for losses comes to the fore.

The Moskvich plant is owned on a parity basis by the Moscow mayor's office and KAMAZ.

The giant from Naberezhnye Chelny found itself in a difficult financial situation by the end of 2024.

In the year of its 55th anniversary, the net profit of KAMAZ PJSC decreased by 28 times: from 20.5 billion to a modest 731 million rubles. Instead of a profit of 19.7 billion rubles for 2023, shareholders faced a loss of 178 million rubles.

The loss per share (basic and diluted) amounted to 0.26 rubles, which is significantly different from the profit of 28.89 rubles per share a year earlier. According to RAS data, the net loss of KAMAZ PJSC for 2024 reached 3.3 billion rubles, while in 2023 the company demonstrated a profit of 11.9 billion rubles.

Thus, it is KAMAZ itself that needs to be saved, and not its capital project for the production of passenger cars.

The Moscow mayor's office, which is not new to maintaining the former AZLK, remains the lifesaver for Moskvich. But in this case, it should be understood that the production of unprofitable cars is paid for from their own pockets by all the capital's residents - taxpayers to the city budget.

They will soon be told that the Moskvich plant will change its Chinese partner; instead of JAC, they are supposedly promising the more authoritative SAIC concern, which is called the “Chinese Volkswagen.”

"The most unpleasant thought that comes to mind when analyzing the situation with the Moskvich is that the goal of the project was never to create a competitive domestic car. In this case, changing the partner and raising prices is not a mistake, but part of the plan. First, we "master" the money from JAC assembly, then we switch to SAIC, raise prices a little more and, in the end, quietly close the project, writing off the losses to "objective circumstances." And the money, as they say, is already in a safe place," the authoritative expert of "Garagebat" comments on the situation on his ZEN channel .

Despite the outward crudeness of the version, it can be accepted as a working one. There is another, more optimistic one: our officials wanted the best, but it turned out...