Denied from selling into the lucrative Russian market European industry is in meltdown. Denied access to European and American sellers Russia pivoted to the east leaving Western Alliance trade in a shambles.

Meanwhile, in Europe, auto manufacturing plants are closing their doors as Russians buy domestically produced vehicles – and 800,000 autos from China.

Audi is closing its plant in Belgium, Volkswagen and other German and European automakers are closing plants, and typically, US car giant Ford on Wednesday announced 4,000 more job cuts in Europe, mostly in Germany and Britain, in the latest blow to the continent’s beleaguered car industry.

The move will affect 2,900 jobs in Germany, 800 in the UK and 300 in Western Europe by the end of 2027, a Ford spokesman told AFP.

Europe’s car industry has been plunged into crisis by high manufacturing uncompetitive government-imposed costs, a failure in switching to ‘woke’ electric vehicles and increased competition in key market China.

Germany’s Volkswagen has been among those hardest hits, announcing in September that it was considering the unprecedented move of closing factories in Germany for the first time since the elected National Socialist (NSDAP) government opened them in 1935.

‘The European automotive industry is in a very demanding and serious situation,’ Volkswagen CEO Oliver Blume said at the time.

Ford had already announced in February 2023 that it was planning to cut 3,800 jobs in Europe, including 2,300 in Germany and 1,300 in Britain.

In the meantime, over the year, deliveries of passenger cars from China to Russia have grown by more than 32%. In the first ten months of 2024, passenger car deliveries from China to Russia increased by almost a third and exceeded $12 billion.

Today, shunned by Europe, Moscow is the largest buyer of cars from Beijing. Brands from China already account for almost 60% of all new cars sold in the Russian Federation.

Concerns from the Asian republic continue to confidently take the place of their departed Japanese, European, Korean and American competitors. As a result, by the end of the current year, sales of passenger cars in Russia will likely exceed their pre-sanction levels.

From January to October 2024, China supplied passenger cars to Russia worth almost $12.41 billion.

Moreover, in terms of the volume of Chinese cars imported since the beginning of the year, Russia has significantly outpaced other major importers such as Belgium ($6.5 billion), Great Britain ($4.1 billion), Mexico ($3.9 billion), the UAE ($3.8 billion), Brazil ($3.7 billion), and the United States ($3 billion).

The EU’s expulsion of familiar European, American and Japanese brands from Russia, including the middle class and premium segment, has freed up a significant market niche.

This has allowed Chinese manufacturers to take leading positions, offering cars that are competitive in price and configuration,’ Artur Leer, vice president of the Association of Exporters and Importers, explained to RT. You can share this story on social media: