Are you curious about why there are no Sino-Russian joint venture cars?

The Chinese auto market has been very busy recently. Although winter is approaching and the weather is cold, the northern part of the country has gradually been heated (we have no ill will towards our friends in the south, we are just simply gloating over their misfortunes). It is reasonable to say that this season should be a time for leisure, but judging from the schedule in October and November, it is a rhythm of running around. The reason is that various new car conferences, American, German, Japanese, and Chinese brands, one after another, of course, this does not include the biggest auto event in the last two months of this year, the Guangzhou Auto Show. But obviously, we are not concerned about these cars, but a sudden thought, why are there no Sino-Russian joint venture cars, that is, so-called Russian cars, in the Chinese market?

The reason why this question is raised is that Russia and China have a very close geographical relationship, but there are no Sino-Russian joint venture cars in China. Some friends may say that the Southeast Asian countries and China are just across the sea, and there are no Sino-Thai, Sino-Indian (Nigeria), and Sino-Malaysian joint venture brands in China? But what we want to say is that the situation in China and Russia is still very different from these Southeast Asian countries and regions. After all, Russia has a vast territory and the largest land area in the world. Although part of it is not suitable for human habitation, isn’t it the same in China? Moreover, China and Russia have a very long border, and there is little obstacle in terms of the difficulty of communication. However, under such a unique situation, China still has no Russian brands!

To analyze the reasons for this problem, we need to look at it from at least two aspects. In theory, the development of Russia's automobile industry started much earlier than that of China. During World War II, the Soviet Union had already used its own GAZ jeeps to fight in Europe. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the GAZ jeep was regarded as the star model of Russian cars in China. Later, China's Jiefang brand trucks looked very similar to the original GAZ-69 in appearance. So from this perspective, Russia still had an impact on China's automobile industry, but this impact was closely limited to the "handmade era" of Chinese automobiles. As China entered the tenth generation of reform and opening up and Russia entered the "post-Soviet" era, the situation has changed greatly.

In fact, observing the current status of Russia's automobile industry, we recommend that you refer to an article previously published by Xiaoli Auto Review that specifically analyzes the current Russian automobile industry, "Russia: Why the Automobile Industry Cannot Take Off Under the Heavy Equipment of a Great Power". This article summarizes and analyzes some of the reasons why Russia's automobile industry cannot take off. From the current situation, Russia's current automobile industry is still very backward compared to the general trend of the world's automobile industry, and is still at a disadvantage even compared to Chinese brands. So if we go back more than 30 years, how much stronger was Russia's automobile industry than China at that time?

One point that must be emphasized is that before and after the collapse of the former Soviet Union, the economic strategy of Khrushchev and Brezhlev was to focus on heavy industry and take into account light industry. However, this heavy industry did not include the civilian automobile industry, but the military industry mainly based on nuclear energy, aircraft carriers, and missiles, ready to fight the Americans to the death and blow the earth back to the Stone Age. Under such circumstances, at least before 1991, Russia's automobile industry basically did not make any major progress. Mainstream automobile powers imposed economic sanctions on it, which also made it difficult for advanced automobile technology to enter Russia. There is a point that needs to be explained here. On October 10, 1984, the Shanghai Volkswagen joint venture project, the predecessor of SAIC Volkswagen, was signed in the Great Hall of the People, and the foundation was laid in Anting, Shanghai two days later. From the perspective of time, the European automobile giants have begun to move forward with their Chinese partners, while the Russian automobile industry and even the entire industry are still withering.

Even entering the Russian era does not mean that the country's automobile industry has made much progress. After 1991, the most important thing for Russians is to solve the problem of shortage of food, clothing, housing and transportation for the people. This is why in 1991, the famous domestic business hero Mou Zhongqi was able to exchange a few carloads of canned goods for four Russian aircraft, which became a good story for a while. So for the civilian heavy industry, Russia was almost stagnant for several years after 1991. During this period, China's automobile industry was ushering in a new round of joint ventures. Obviously, Russia did not catch up with such an extremely favorable opportunity in terms of policies and taxes. At the same time, during this period, the world's automobile industry has undergone earth-shaking changes. Fortunately, China, which has many joint venture brands, just caught up with such an opportunity. In fact, at this time, China no longer needs any resources from the Russian automobile industry. It is precisely because of this that Russia does not even have the opportunity to enter China.

Looking at today's Chinese brands, although they have been criticized by people, we have to admit that Chinese brands and even the entire Chinese automobile industry have entered a new track of development and are moving forward at a high speed. Judging from the current situation, even those Chinese brand manufacturers that are still in the parts stage are stronger than Russia's national brands GAZ, Lada, and UAZ in overall strength. In this case, Chinese brands seem to have no reason to form joint ventures with Russian brands. After all, these brands do not have advantages in technology and design, and weak cooperation is no longer in line with the development laws of the automobile industry.

China and Russia, two neighboring countries, have no cooperation projects in the automotive industry. It is unfortunate but fortunate. Unfortunately, Russian cars still have no hope until today. Fortunately, Russia's current semi-market economy has always been criticized for its integrity in international cooperation. Without automobile joint ventures, there would be no stillbirth and heavy losses! In general, the lack of Russian products in the Chinese market is mainly due to historical reasons. Of course, the lack of ambition of Russian cars is also an important factor to be considered.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.