Number of Car Brands Sold in Russia Hits Record 123

The number of passenger car brands sold in Russia has reached a record level, roughly doubling over six years, according to data published by analyst Sergey Tselikov on his Telegram channel and reported by Lenta.ru.

Before 2020, between 50 and 60 passenger car brands were on sale on the Russian market. Counting only registrations of new passenger cars, the brand count has risen every year since: 57 brands in 2020, 65 in 2021, 79 in 2022, 96 in 2023, 107 in 2024 and 116 in 2025. In the first eight months of 2026 the figure stood at 123.

Three drivers behind the expansion

Tselikov identified three main reasons for the increase. The first is the widening presence of the Chinese automotive industry on the Russian market. The second is the emergence of new brands that came to be described as Russian. The third is alternative importing, under which small consignments of a large number of different brands entered the country.

Each of these channels adds brands to the registration statistics in a different way. Chinese manufacturers have brought full model line-ups and dealer networks. Locally badged brands add nameplates without necessarily adding new manufacturing bases. Alternative imports, by contrast, can register a brand on the basis of a handful of units, which means the headline brand count and actual sales volumes per brand can diverge sharply.

Model count approaches 900

The proliferation is even more pronounced at model level. The combined number of new passenger car models on the Russian market in 2026 has come close to 900, Tselikov said. Before 2021 that indicator did not exceed 500.

The figures describe supply rather than demand: they count what is registered and available, not how many units each nameplate sells. A market where 123 brands and nearly 900 models compete for the same buyers implies that average volume per model is far lower than it was when the market was served by fewer than 60 brands and under 500 models.

The installed fleet

Looking at the Russian vehicle fleet as a whole, Tselikov put the total at more than 200 different brands and about 2,700 different passenger car models. That figure covers cars in use, including those from brands that have ceased new sales in the country, and illustrates the accumulated legacy of earlier market cycles alongside the newer arrivals.

For the aftermarket, the fleet number carries direct operational weight. Parts distributors, independent workshops and insurers have to hold or source components for a brand and model universe several times larger than the one currently on sale. Diagnostic equipment, software licences and technician training all scale with that universe rather than with the number of brands actively marketed.

What the numbers mean for market participants

For importers and dealer groups, the brand count is a measure of how fragmented shelf space has become. Dealerships that once carried a small number of global marques now choose among a far wider set of candidates, many with limited track records in the market. For manufacturers already present, each additional entrant competes for the same showroom capacity, service infrastructure and marketing attention.

• 2020: 57 brands registered
• 2021: 65 brands
• 2022: 79 brands
• 2023: 96 brands
• 2024: 107 brands
• 2025: 116 brands
• January-August 2026: 123 brands

The steepest single-year increases came in 2022 and 2023, when the brand count rose from 65 to 79 and then to 96. Growth has continued since but at a slower pace: the additions were 11 brands in 2024 and nine in 2025, with seven more recorded in the first eight months of 2026. On the evidence of the registration data, the wave of new entrants has not stopped, but its rate has moderated compared with the peak years.