Imports of new cars to Russia dropped sharply - from 25,000 per month in January-February to 8,000 in July, writes The Moscow Times, citing Sergey Tselikov, CEO of the Avstostat analytical agency.

In total, 27,000 new foreign cars were imported into Russia in the second quarter, and 81% of them are Chinese brands. In the first quarter of this year, more than 40,000 new cars were imported into Russia, most of them from Europe. Now the share of European cars is less than 2%.

The Moscow Times also points to another trend: the share of new cars imported by individuals is growing - at the beginning of the year it was about 2-3%, and now it is about 20%.

About a month ago, Kommersant wrote that Chinese companies had taken over the Russian truck market: by mid-July, the combined share of Chinese brands had reached 44% and surpassed Russian manufacturers.