Is great to be leader of glorious Russian Federation. Of course, we can always be more glorious. And glory be to the Russian car industry. Make world's greatest automobiles for world's greatest people. Is natural we want to build cars inside Russian Federation, to help our economy grow and prosper, like garden. So we are placing new tariffs on used cars more than five years old. Is simple economics. Russian-made cars are only 40 percent of the market, including foreign brands. This is all because the Russian car industry has receded from its position quite seriously. I am thinking about 80 percent of cars sold in Russia should be made in our country. New import tariffs rates will increase demand for clean new cars. Pravda, which means truth, says "Russian car manufacturers may not derive profit from it at all." But who knows what they mean and that is before I make phone call. Until then, I remind Russia's foreign partners in auto industry of old proverb: "What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine." Dasvidanya.
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This is even funnier if you imagine Borat saying it.
I don’t blame them. All developing and developed countries see automobiles as one of their key strategic industries (except for the US of course, our future is in lawyers, entertainment, sports (another form of entertainment) and fast food and coffee shops).
A better model for them would be to do what China has done and force western makers to partner with Russian companies. Then they can kick them to the curb when they feel they are ready to stand on their own.
windswords:
A better model for them would be to do what China has done and force western makers to partner with Russian companies. Then they can kick them to the curb when they feel they are ready to stand on their own.
Yeah, who needs property rights anyway?
RF,
All I can determine from the way this world works is that property rights, free trade, and other noble ideals are for losers, which are apparently U.S. (well I guess you can throw Canada in their too). I wish it wasn’t that way but there you have it.
I guess we won’t be able to send them any of our SUV inventory for a while. BTW, Does anybody know how to backdate a MCO?
I didn’t know that Russia had a car industry? What, is the Yugo is still in production even after the USSR? What happened to the vodka, weapons and oil? ;)
We used to worry they’d obliterate civilization in a holocaust of nuclear fire.
Now we worry they won’t let us sell them enough cars. It’s always something…
Old Russian problem again gets in the way, their pride. They couldn’t design quarter-decent cars when their best and brightest were home. How are they going to do it now when many moved out of Russia? Maybe FSB can “procure” technology form the West.
Folks, at least when you cannot be bothered to google, attempt to associate. “Yugo” as in “Yugoslavia” – now, that isn’t too hard?
Oh, maybe I should have mentioned Yugoslavia was a separate country from Russia…
These tariffs wouldn’t be needed if Russian cars routinely lasted more than 4 years.
‘Duraplast’ (the strange Soviet mixture of cardboard, fiberglass, barnyard straw and industrial waste that they made car bodies from) doesn’t hold up very well.
@cjdumm “Duroplast” was an East German invention, used in Trabants (of course) and fortunately it can be easily recycled into cinder blocks. Russian cars are made of steel, with a high scrap content that causes it to rust very quickly, as anybody who owned a mid 70s Fiat or Lancia could attest.
What he probably trying to do is to make foreign makers assemble cars in Russia as many do right now. Ford, Renault, BMW and few others. Also Russian cars are very basic but last forever when taken care of properly (know it from personal experience) and have to endure some of the worst roads on earth. Some of the Nivas are actually pretty good off road and last forever. Also GAZ just bought old Sebring line from Chrysler, and selling it as Siber or something
Exactly how many used cars (five years and older) are currently being imported into the U.S.? Are the import tariffs favorable?
there are (tens of?) THOUSANDS of 5-yr old and older japanese cars available. ridiculous regs make it uneconomical for japanese to keep cars more than 5 yrs old (just barely broken in, in less stringent countries).
i understand many new car dealers in new zealand folded, due to flood of used japanese cars with many many years of useful service left in ’em.
not sure if it still happens, but i once heard as soon as russian freighters hit japanese ports, crewmen would head for used car lots. presumably to buy AS MANY cars as they had cash for. to resell for substantial profits back in russia.