The Share of Diesel Cars in Russia Increased Amid Gasoline Shortage

The gasoline shortage in Russia has led to an increase in the share of diesel vehicles in the market. In July and the first half of August, the share of diesel cars among new vehicles reached 1.7%, up from 1.4% in the first half of the year. Among used cars, this figure rose from 5.9% to 6.3%. Sergey Tselikov, the general director of "Autostat," noted that there is a shortage of gasoline at gas stations, especially quality gasoline, while diesel fuel is available almost everywhere. However, the supply of diesel vehicles remains limited, as Russian manufacturers offer few such models, and Chinese brands mainly sell diesel pickups. At the beginning of summer, the only Chinese diesel SUV, the Haval H5, was sold out in just 1.5 months. Among used diesel cars this year, the highest number of sales was for the Renault Duster. Additionally, amid the fuel crisis, the demand for electric vehicles has increased: in July, 3,650 used electric cars were registered, significantly more than the 1,270 from the previous year. The share of electric vehicles and hybrids in the primary market rose to 12% in July, compared to 8% in May. As of August 24, there is a severe shortage of AI-95 gasoline in Russia, available at only 22% of gas stations.