Stored equipment residing in the storage facility.
Revamped Rant:
Chinese Auto Giants Go Big in Russia's Heartland
Get ready for some serious expansion in the Russian automobile scene as Chinese automakers, like the tenacious Haval, ramps up its operations in the countryside of Moscow. Picking up a whopping 42,000 sq. meters of warehouse space in the industrial park "Klin," Haval's playing for keeps.
An inside scoop from industry insiders reveals that Haval's secure heels have been positioned in the industrial park "Klin," nestled between the Leningrad Highway and the M-11 highway, the heart of the region's commercial real estate territory since at least early 2025. But don't expect these spacious new digs to house unsold vehicle stock fanatically, or so the experts say—it's an expensive proposition.
Officials from both Haval and the owners of the logistics park, "Klinavtotrans," have kept mum about the deal, leaving the juicy details for speculative imagination. The estimated annual rent for such a premium patch of real estate is around 609 million rubles, give or take a few million, according to Dmitri Gerasovskii, an expert at Ricci's warehouse real estate department. But some think that's a tad low, with Victor Zaglumin, a partner at Bright Rich | CORFAC International, pushing the estimate closer to 630 million rubles.
Haval: Hitting the Gas in Russia
Owned by the badass powerhouse Great Wall Motor, Haval entered the Russian market in 2015 and set up shop in the Tula region in 2019. The company's financial prowess took a major leap in 2023, with LLC "Haval Motor Rus" raking in a cool 322 billion rubles, according to the latest available data from SPARK.
So, what's the deal with scooping up this massive warehouse space in the relatively obscure Moscow region of Klin?
Yevgeny Bumagin, the head of the warehouse and production facilities department at IBC Real Estate, chimes in, "Haval's strategic move to Klin is all about snatching quality premises as quickly as possible, with optimal business terms in hand." Thanks to its rural location, the rent within the industrial park "Klin" is roughly 15-20% cheaper than the market average, offering a real advantage considering the notable shortage of available warehouse space.
A Car Market in Struggle
Blame it on the economy, baby. The local car market is struggling, with sales of passenger vehicles tumbling down nearly 25% from January to March 2025. This colossal shift brought the total sales figure to a grim 246,930 units, according to "Autostat." Haval's performance hasn't been immune to this economic slump, with the company reporting a 17.1% yearly decline in sales for the same period, to a disappointing 31,190 units.
But the market's troubles have likely driven Haval's need for larger storage capacity, right? Not so fast, argues Maxim Kadakov, the editor-in-chief of the "Behind the Wheel" magazine. He contends that the large warehouse spaces are costly and not a practical solution for vehicle stocking, claiming they're "pointless." Nevertheless, Kadakov isn't ruling out the possibility that the Shanghai native could be using the new spaces for storing auto parts; a move that makes sense given the inconsistency in the supply chain due to international restrictions.
Victor Zaglumin, another industry expert, proposes that increased demand for warehouses from Chinese automakers could be exacerbating the inevitable stricter requirements for production localization within the Russian market. A recent surge of interest in the local market has led manufacturers to prioritize building and expanding local distribution networks, with production companies accounting for an impressive 45% of the warehouse real estate transactions in the region, reports NF Group partner Konstantin Fomichenko.
The stage is set for Chinese automakers to dominate the Russian market and compete with Western giants. Get ready for a showdown that'll make dirt tracks cower in fear!
- The expansion of Haval, a Chinese automaker, in the industrial park "Klin," located between the Leningrad Highway and the M-11 highway, suggests a strategic move to secure premium business terms and take advantage of relatively cheaper rent, despite the high costs associated with it.
- The financial success of Haval, a Chinese automaker, has been evident in recent years, as demonstrated by thecompany's significant earnings of 322 billion rubles in 2023, and the acquisition of a sprawling warehouse space in the Klin region may be indicative of efforts to address the inconsistency in the supply chain or meet growing demands for warehouses from Chinese automakers, potentially enhancing their competitive edge in the Russian market.
