Japan puts the brakes on lucrative used-car trade with Russia
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Second-hand Toyota cars are seen on sale at a dealer shop in Moscow, Russia, July 8, 2016. REUTERS/Sergei Karpukhin/File Photo
While wiping out Russia's biggest source of used cars, the sanctions have driven down prices for second-hand cars in Japan and left brokers scrambling to send vehicles to other regions, especially right-hand drive markets in New Zealand, Southeast Asia and Africa. More than half of the 303,000 used cars imported by Russia in the first eight months of the year came from Japan, according to figures from Russian analytical agency Autostat.
"Business is down about 70% and we've had to let a couple of people go because there isn't enough work," said Olesya Alekseeva, a logistics coordinator at SV Alliance.Japan has been a leading used-car exporter for decades. A system of mandatory inspections pushes the cost of maintaining used cars higher for customers in Japan. Financing costs for new car purchases, by contrast, are low.
Japan had originally banned exporting luxury vehicles to Russia in April last year. It added a prohibition on the export of heavy trucks in June.
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