Inside Russia’s Car Market After Sanctions

In 2025, the Russian car market looks nothing like it did just a few years ago. After Western sanctions forced major automakers like Volkswagen, Ford, and Renault to pull out of the country, their factories went silent — but not for long. Chinese auto giants quickly stepped in to fill the vacuum, taking over assembly lines once owned by Western brands and flooding the market with their own vehicles.

In this video, we take a close look at how sanctions reshaped the Russian auto industry, how Chinese manufacturers like Chery, Haval, and Geely rose to dominance almost overnight, and what this shift means for Russian consumers, prices, and car quality.