Tens of thousands of foreign-brand cars are reaching Russia via China through gray-market channels that often circumvent sanctions and automakers’ pledges to exit the Russian market, according to new reporting by Reuters. 

Many of the vehicles that ultimately make their way to Russia are built in China, where international brands manufacture with local partners, or else are routed through China after being manufactured elsewhere. A growing number of the vehicles are “zero-mileage used” cars, the news agency found. 

Despite their name, the zero-mileage used cars are new vehicles that are first registered as sold in China by dealers or traders and then reclassified as used and exported, a practice traders said circumvents the need for automaker approval for Russia sales, according to the report. 

Registration figures from Russian research firm Autostat show imports from China are an increasingly large share of Western and Japanese brands registered in Russia, Reuters said. The data show the number of such vehicles manufactured in China has more than doubled since 2023 and accounted for nearly half of the nearly 130,000 vehicles sold in Russia in 2025 from automakers based in countries imposing sanctions. 

Since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine, more than 700,000 vehicles from those foreign brands have been sold in the Russian Federation, according to Autostat data cited in the report. 

Of the nearly 30,000 Toyotas purchased in Russia last year, almost 24,000 were made in China, while nearly 7,000 Mazdas were sold in the federation, almost all China-made, the news agency said. Autostat figures also showed nearly 47,000 new BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen Group vehicles—including Audi, Porsche and Skoda—were registered in Russia last year, with more than 20,000 manufactured in China.

Read more at Reuters