Tens of thousands of cars are exported from China to Russia through "gray market" schemes that often circumvent sanctions by Western and Asian governments and obligations for automakers to leave the Russian market, according to registration data reviewed by Reuters and interviews with five people involved in the trade.
The sanctions and promises from companies came in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But the lucrative trade in these vehicles - from Toyotas and Mazdas to German luxury models - continues, in part, through informal networks that allow Russian dealers to order them through Chinese intermediaries, according to interviews and data from Russian research firm Autostat.
Most of these vehicles are manufactured in China, where many international brands produce cars with local partners, or are rerouted through China after being manufactured elsewhere, according to data and sources, Reuters reports.
A larger number are "second-hand" vehicles with zero mileage - new vehicles that dealers or traders register as sold in China, then reclassify them as second-hand and export.
The practice, which Reuters reported last year, is a symptom of China's heavily subsidized and hyper-competitive auto market, which allows manufacturers and dealers to inflate sales figures, collect subsidies and export surplus vehicles.
Traders who move cars of European, Japanese and South Korean brands from China to Russia classify new vehicles as used to avoid the need to get manufacturer approval for sale in Russia, said Zhang Aijun, a former exporter at an auto trading company in China's Sichuan province.
"This way it's easier to export," she said.
"Used" vehicles with zero mileage are often heavily discounted in China. But in Russia they fetch prices similar to brand-new cars that have never been registered, according to a Russian dealer and vehicle delivery documents reviewed by Reuters.
Reuters first reported the Autostat data, which showed that China had emerged as the main channel through which foreign vehicles arrived in Russia, as well as the practice of manufacturers circumventing restrictions on sales in Russia by classifying new vehicles as used.
Dmitry Zazulin, sales director at the Moscow auto dealership Panavto-Zapad, said that many customers want to buy and drive cars exclusively from Western brands, such as Mercedes.
"However, we can only bring them in through parallel channels at the moment," he said.
Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagen and other manufacturers from the region that are imposing sanctions have said they are banning sales in Russia and are doing everything they can to prevent unauthorized exports, including training and contractual clauses with dealers. But they have pointed to the difficulties of investigating possible violations: such investigations are "time-consuming and complex" and require the help of third parties, Mercedes said in a statement.
BMW said it had instructed its retail operation in China to "strictly oppose any potential export of vehicles to Russia," adding that if cars do enter Russia as grey market imports, "this is happening outside our sphere of influence - and also expressly against our will."
One Russian dealer, who agreed to be identified only by the name Vladimir, told Reuters that his showroom in Vladivostok does not stock banned foreign cars, but buys them one by one from Chinese dealers to fulfill customer orders.
"There are many intermediaries: this one knows that one, that one knows that one, and that one can get to the dealer," he said.
Data reveals the scale of the trade
Sales are measured in thousands, according to data compiled by Autostat. The numbers show that imports from China account for a growing share of all Western or Japanese-branded vehicles registered in Russia, with steady volumes of South Korean brands.
The number of such vehicles produced in China has more than doubled since 2023, the data shows. They now account for almost half of the nearly 130.000 vehicles sold in Russia in 2025 by manufacturers from sanctioned countries, according to Autostat. Since Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, more than 700.000 vehicles from such foreign brands have been sold in Russia.
Autostat data showed that Russians bought more Toyotas last year than any other foreign brand except Chinese. But the manufacturer said in a statement that it would stop sending cars there in 2022: "Toyota does not export new vehicles to Russia," the company said, without referring to Autostat's figures.
Mazda, which also had significant sales, said the same thing, adding that all new Mazdas sold in Russia were "resold through third parties that are outside Mazda's control."
Sebastian Benink, a sanctions expert at the European law firm Benink Dunin-Vasovic, said that restricted products still often "leak" into Russia even when industry players do everything they can to block them.
There are so many ways to circumvent sanctions that it is "almost impossible to prevent certain cars from ending up in Russia," Benink said.
Although Autostat statistics show that China is the main route, Reuters was unable to determine all the routes by which vehicles arrive in Russia.
The German Ministry of Economics said that customs authorities regularly investigate violations of sanctions and cooperate with colleagues in other EU countries to enforce the measures.
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said manufacturers, exporters and dealers were bound by its sanctions rules, but declined to comment on the trade of Japanese cars between China and Russia.
South Korea's Ministry of Trade said it is working to prevent the circumvention of export controls and that the country is cracking down on indirect exports of used cars to Russia.
China's Ministry of Commerce and Russia's Ministry of Industry and Trade did not respond to requests for comment. Both countries have said they oppose unilateral sanctions and consider them illegal.
Sales of foreign-brand vehicles made in China are growing rapidly in Russia
The European Union (EU), the United States (US), South Korea and Japan have imposed similar sanctions on the auto industry. They generally ban the sale of vehicles in Russia above a certain price or with larger engines, as well as all electric vehicles and hybrids. Manufacturers from these regions have also pledged to end or significantly reduce their operations in Russia.
Overall, these measures have reduced Russian sales of vehicles from the regions imposing sanctions from more than a million in 2021 to about an eighth of that, Autostat data shows.
But sales of German and Japanese cars made in China are rising, data shows, which some industry analysts attribute to a rise in exports of "used" vehicles with zero mileage.
These vehicles do not appear in some industry databases; research firm GlobalData, for example, did not report any official sales of new cars of German brands in Russia this year. Autostat's data, however, includes these sales because it is based on new car registrations in Russia, where imported vehicles with zero mileage are considered new regardless of whether they were previously registered in China.
Nearly 30.000 Toyotas were purchased in Russia last year, Autostat data showed. Nearly 24.000 of them were made in China. Nearly 7.000 Mazdas were sold during the same period, almost all of them made in China. Hybrids from brands including Toyota are among the most popular Japanese models in Russia, according to two sources in the Chinese auto retail industry.
German luxury SUV models are passing through grey market channels
German cars are also in high demand. Autostat figures showed that nearly 47.000 new vehicles from BMW, Mercedes and Volkswagen Group were registered in Russia last year, including the Audi, Porsche and Skoda brands.
More than 20.000 of those vehicles were made in China, the data shows. The rest were made in Europe, but many likely passed through China on their way to Russia, according to industry analysts and a person involved in importing vehicles into Russia. Vladimir, a Russian car dealer, said most foreign cars are imported through China regardless of where they are made.
One popular model among the Russian elite is the Mercedes G-Class, a boxy SUV that can sell for around 120.000 euros, or about $142.700, and is produced exclusively in Austria, said Felipe Munoz, an analyst who runs the Car Industry Analysis platform.
Dozens of shipping documents reviewed by Reuters showed other examples of German luxury SUVs being imported into Russia from China, including the Mercedes GLC 300 and BMW X1 xDrive25i.
"Given the trade between Russia and China, which has increased significantly in recent years when it comes to cars, it is obvious to conclude that many of these cars imported into China from Germany end up in Russia," said Munoz.
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