Since the sanctions imposed after the invasion of Ukraine, most car factories in Russia have been closed and importing new cars has been made more difficult. Used Japanese cars are therefore popular, boosted by demand from Russian drivers who are struggling to buy anything else. They prefer this type of vehicle to the old Lada.
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More and more of these Japanese cars end up in Vladivostok, at the very end of Russia – where the Trans-Siberian journey ends. Japan imposes less stringent sanctions than the United States or Europe, and cars only have to cross 900 km of sea bays to enter Russia.
Andrei Gouseev unloads a cargo ship in the port of Vladivostok. “As cynical as it may seem, we are war profiteers,” admits the car importer. Andrei points a little further to a boat: “This ship has not been able to be unloaded since Friday because it cannot be unloaded anywhere.”
Japan hasn’t exported that many used cars to Russia since 2009. There’s just one problem: In Japan, traffic drives on the left. All these cars have the steering wheel on the right side. But in the Russian Far East this is not a problem. Mikhail, a taxi driver in his fifties, used to drive like this: “We have very few left-hand drive cars in Vladivostok. Most are right-hand drive.”
“We were born with it, as the saying goes, we got used to it. Almost everyone drives on the right-hand side. You learn to drive on the left by the rules, but here in Vladivostok we drive on the right.”
Mikhail, a Russian taxi
at franceinfo
And right-hand traffic cars could soon be seen all over Russia. In Zelennii Ougol, “the green corner”, on the heights of Vladivostok – one of the largest used car markets in Russia – Ivan comes with a friend to inquire. He lives in Kurgan in the Urals, 7,000 kilometers away, but comes here especially to buy a car. “We came from the Urals because there are no more cars there,” emphasizes Ivan. The selection here is very large.”
“It’s a nationally known market. I checked the reviews and the prices are cheap, so we came.”
Ivan, a customer
at franceinfo
In Russia, new car sales have plummeted by 80% since the beginning of the war. Luckily there are Japanese used cars and so much the worse for the right hand drive.