A 35% discount on electric vehicles and hybrids was one of the main tools to stimulate this segment in Russia — with the high cost of imported electric cars and a limited model range, it was government support that kept demand at an acceptable level for a significant part of buyers.
The reduction to 10% changes the economics of buying radically. The difference between a 35% and 10% discount on a car worth several million rubles is hundreds of thousands of rubles of additional costs for the end customer. With such an adjustment, electric vehicles and hybrids risk returning to the category of a niche rather than a mass-market product for the Russian market.
The wording "considering" indicates that the decision has not yet been finalized — this is not an announced effective date, but a measure under discussion. Nevertheless, the very fact of publicly discussing such a large—scale subsidy reduction is a signal to market participants to prepare for the worst-case scenario in advance, rather than waiting for an official announcement.
For importers of electric vehicles and hybrids operating through parallel imports or direct contracts with manufacturers from China, the main source of affordable electric vehicles on the Russian market, a sharp reduction in subsidies means the need to revise the sales forecast for the second half of the year. A product that was actively sold at a 35% discount may lose significantly in turnover at a 10% discount.
A separate category of affected market participants are companies that supply components for the local assembly of electric vehicles and hybrids: batteries, electric motors, and charging infrastructure. The decrease in final demand for finished vehicles translates up the supply chain to the volume of purchases of these components.
A practical step for businesses in this segment is to monitor the official decision of the Ministry of Industry and Trade in the coming weeks and adjust purchase plans in advance so as not to end up with excess stock of electric vehicles designed for the previous level of subsidized demand.
