Foreign cars will become more expensive again. Increase in recycling fee and other measures of the authorities

The first rumors about the cancellation of the preferential recycling fee for cars with a capacity of more than 160 hp imported by individuals for personal use were back in June 2025. But the authorities remained silent for a long time. There was even hope: maybe the government will not deprive people of the opportunity to import cars with a capacity of more than 160 hp?

Unfortunately, the hopes were not justified. In reality, everything turned out to be even worse, and the new rules for processing the recycling fee may come into force as early as November 1, 2025. "NI" figured out what cars Russians will lose in a month and a half.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has issued an official statement on the preparation of a bill to amend the procedure for calculating the recycling fee for passenger cars.

The beneficiary of the new rules will be AvtoVAZ, which does not produce powerful engines in principle. But formally, Maxim Sokolov was not involved this time - the letter was signed by completely different people.

Regardless of who initiated the changes, starting from November 1, “in order to reduce the likelihood of incorrect calculations,” an additional progressive coefficient for calculating the recycling fee depending on capacity may be introduced.

Hybrids with parallel engine connection scheme will be especially hard hit. For example, the Wey 07 crossover officially presented in the Russian Federation with a main engine of 1.5 liters has a power of 353.5 hp according to the documents.

It is worth admitting that Wey 07 is expensive (from 7 million rubles) and far from the most popular car. But even in the budget segment, a perfect storm is coming, destroying the domestic car market.

The press release of the Ministry of Industry and Trade states that it is only possible to bring a car for personal use with a preferential scrappage fee (5.2 thousand rubles for the most popular category of cars aged 3-5 years) with an engine of up to 160 hp. However, the bill contains another point: a limit of 80 hp is set for hybrids. It is not known what the point is in limiting economical and environmentally friendly cars.

The only thing that should calm people down is that Japan, where the main flow of used hybrids came from, has already banned their export. But losing a car without an electric add-on with a capacity of more than 160 hp is also unpleasant.

Market monitoring has shown that the most frequently imported cars from Japan in this power category are the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado SUV (average price of 4-5 million rubles, and power of 163 or 204 hp), the Toyota Harrier crossover for 3.5-4 million rubles (simple naturally aspirated engine with a volume of 2 liters and 171 hp), the Subaru Levorg station wagon with a 1.8 liter engine with 177 hp for an average of 2.2-2.5 million rubles, the practical Subaru Forester crossover with a similar engine costing 2.7-2.9 million rubles, rubles, Honda Civic hatchbacks with a 1.5 liter engine with a capacity of 182 hp for 2.3 million rubles and the Honda CR-V crossover (also 182 hp) for 2.8 million rubles.

South Korea is second after Japan in terms of popularity of used cars. The mid-size Hyundai Tucson and Kia Sportage crossovers with 186–200 hp, the spacious Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento with the ability to seat seven people, with an economical 202 hp diesel engine, and the Kia Carnival minivan with the same engine will sharply lose their availability. The Hyundai Sonata and Kia K5 sedans, previously popular as taxis, will also be left behind.

The new recycling fee rates deal the most painful blow to the category of practical and family cars. But their analogues are not produced in Russia. The desire of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to clear the market of imported cars is already a direct threat to demography. It is impossible to install three child seats in the same Lada Vesta, and the outdated Lada Largus with a low-power engine, exclusively manual gearbox and without modern passive and active safety features is unlikely to satisfy people accustomed to modern foreign cars.