Car loans in Russia

The main articles are:

• Lending in Russia
• Automotive market in Russia

2023

The issuance of car loans remains at the maximum - 57 billion rubles a month

At the end of December, the issuance of car loans in Russia remained at its maximum - from August to December 2023, a net increase of 57 billion per month compared to 31 billion in January-July 2023 and 19 billion rubles in 2021. The growth may be associated with deferred demand, the implementation of discount programs at dealers at the end of the year and expectations of an increase in car prices due to devaluation.

Allocation of 17.3 billion rubles of state funds for preferential car loans

On November 15, 2023, the State Duma approved the draft federal budget with increased funding for demand support programs for cars and other equipment. Concessional lending provides for 17.3 billion rubles. This amount of funds was allocated only once - in 2020 against the background of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Initially, the draft budget for the upcoming three-year period provided for 50.1 billion rubles for preferential car loans - 12.3 billion rubles in 2024, 18.07 billion in 2025 and 19.7 billion in 2026. The adopted amendments to the budget imply an increase in the amount of funding for preferential car loan programs by an additional 5 billion rubles for each year of the next three years. For preferential leasing programs, an increase of an additional 7 billion rubles is expected, also annually. Thus, in 2024, the planned amount of financing of preferential car loans increased to 17.3 billion rubles, preferential leasing - to 9 billion rubles.

17.3 billion rubles are provided for preferential lending to cars

Cars are very expensive and there are categories of the population who cannot afford to buy for their own money, businesses also need to update their fleets, so they cannot do without state support for the market, says auto expert Vladimir Bespalov. According to him, the main thing is that the support is correctly structured, and its beneficiaries among manufacturers are those companies that really increase the localization of their products. It is also important that, in general, the volume of production of vehicles to the country grows, he added in a conversation with Vedomosti.

Sergey Udalov from Avtostat believes that the car loan market in 2024 is likely to remain at the level of 2023 or slightly decrease. At the same time, the program of preferential car loans will continue to be in demand, since it makes it possible to purchase a car more profitable than on credit without state support, he said.^[1]

2022: Launch of preferential car loans

In mid-July 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade announced the resumption of programs to stimulate demand for Russian-made cars - including through preferential car loans and leasing - with a total budget of 20.7 billion rubles. Read more here.

2021: The volume of car loans issued in Russia reached 1.1 trillion rubles

The volume of issuance of bank loans for the purchase of cars in 2021 reached a record 1.1 trillion rubles, an increase of almost 1.5 times compared to 2020. Such data on January 13, 2022 led to VTB.

We are talking about the entire car loan market. VTB itself in 2021 concluded more than 86 thousand such transactions in the amount of 101 billion rubles (+ 27% by 2020). The share of online loan applications amounted to 29%.

According to VTB Vice President Vladimir Vysotsky, the dynamics of the car loan market in 2021 was influenced by pent-up demand due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, a state support program and favorable lending rates. In 2022, against the background of a slowdown in price growth, customer demand for car loans will remain high, and their issuance will reach 1.2-1.3 trillion rubles, the bank predicts.

The volume of car loans issued in Russia reached 1.1 trillion rubles in 2021

Marketing Director of the NBCH Aleksei Volkov, in a conversation with RBC, noted that the record of car loans for Russians in 2021 should not be recorded in the "category of serious victories," since it was the result of a failed 2020. According to the bureau, in 2020, when loan rates fell, Russian banks issued car loans worth 769.8 billion rubles (this is the previous record), which is only slightly more than in pre-crisis 2019 (749.7 billion rubles). Data for 2021 in the NBCH by January 13, 2022 do not lead.

The COVID-19 pandemic and its consequences have affected the automotive market around the world. This is the semiconductor crisis, which entailed a shortage in the market for new cars, and the interruptions in the supply of other materials and elements predicted by experts in 2022, as well as other factors, - said Ivan Zhigarev, head of VTB's Car Credit Department.

The lack of supply in the market and the rise in prices ensured an increase in the average check of car loans. According to Frank RG, the average loan for the purchase of a car in Russia in 2021 grew by about a third.^[2]

Dynamics of issuing car loans in 2015-2021, in billion rubles.

According to the NBCH, in 2021 the largest volume of issued car loans in the regions of the Russian Federation was noted in Moscow (138.6 billion rubles), the Moscow region (88.6 billion rubles), St. Petersburg (77.4 billion rubles), as well as in the Krasnodar Territory (57.0 billion rubles) and the Republic of Tatarstan (43.7 billion rubles). At the same time, the largest volume of issued car loans in 2021 (among the 30 leading regions in terms of the number of issued car loans) compared to 2020 increased in the Krasnodar Territory (+ 82.1%) and Stavropol (+ 69.0%) regions , Irkutsk Region (+ 68.1%), Krasnoyarsk Territory (+ 64.7%), as well as in the Moscow Region (+ 61.5 %). In Moscow and St. Petersburg, the volume of loans issued for the purchase of cars in 2021 increased by 57.4% and 46.6%, respectively. More information about the data on the regions of the Russian Federation can be found in the table compiled by the NBCH.

2016: Overdue debt 102.4 billion rubles (+ 6.7 %)

According to 4000 creditors submitting information to the National Bureau of Credit Histories (NBCH), in 2016 overdue debt over 30 days on car loans increased by 6.7% (or 6.5 billion rubles) and as of 01.01.2017 reached 102.4 billion rubles. (as of 01.01.2016. - 95.9 billion rubles). At the same time, the total volume of existing car loans as of January 1, 2017 amounted to 1.02 trillion rubles, having decreased over the year by 6.5% (or 70 billion rubles) (as of 01/01/2016 - 1.09 trillion rubles)

Dynamics of overdue debt and volume of car loan portfolio in 2016, in billion rubles

Thus, the share of delinquency in this segment of retail lending to the total volume of the car loan portfolio at the beginning of this year amounted to 10.1%, an increase of 1.3 percentage points over the year (as of 01.01.2016. – 8,8%)

Dynamics of the share of delinquency to the total volume of car loans in 2016, in%

The highest dynamics of growth in the share of overdue debt to the total volume of existing car loans was noted in the Altai Republic (+ 7.8 pp), Nenets Autonomous Okrug (+ 7.6 pp) and the Tver Region (+ 6.1 pp). At the same time, in a number of regions, the share of delinquency in the portfolio of car loans has decreased. The most serious decline was demonstrated by the Chechen Republic (-7.4 pp), the Republic of Ingushetia (-3.4 pp) and the Republic of Adygea (-1.7 pp)

Notes