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On October 12, 2022, Nissan announced that it would withdraw from the Russian market and resell all shares of its Russian subsidiary to the Central Research and Development Automotive engine Research Institute (NAMI) headquartered in Moscow for future passenger car projects. Nissan's after-sales service and parts supply will be taken care of by the Russian Volga Automobile Factory (AvtoVAZ). Nissan has the right to buy back its shares within six years.

On January 3, according to the latest news from the Russian satellite news agency, Dennis ∙ Manturov, Russian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry and Trade, said that the Russian Central Institute of Automotive and Automotive engine Science (NAMI) under the Ministry of Industry and Trade would transfer Nissan's Russian assets to the Volga Automobile Plant (AvtoVAZ). "recently, it was decided to transfer shares in Nissan to NAMI, but NAMI transferred those shares to AvtoVAZ in order to then work with foreign manufacturers to start production of Lada cars at the St. Petersburg base," Manturov said in an interview. In December 2022, Manturov also said that production at the St. Petersburg plant would restart and produce at least three Lada models in the second half of 2023.

According to the latest report, after the Russian Volga Automobile Factory (AvtoVAZ) takes over the Nissan plant, AvtoVAZ will produce more than 400000 cars in 2023, but Russia believes this is a rather conservative annual production target.

Construction of Nissan's St. Petersburg plant in Russia first broke ground in July 2007 and began production two years later with an annual production capacity of 100000 vehicles, including X-Trail, Murano, Kashkai and Tyrano models. In March 2022, due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Nissan shut down the above-mentioned factories and had planned to resume production in late September 2022, but was hit by the escalation of the situation in Russia and Ukraine, Nissan finally had to make a decision to withdraw from the Russian market.

Before the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, a number of western automakers, such as France's Renault, Mercedes and Ford, and local Russian automakers had been fighting for market share in the Russian car market, and changes began to take place after 2022. At present, car companies, including Renault, Toyota, Nissan and Mazda, have all announced their withdrawal from Russia. Under the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, car sales in the Russian market have declined month after month.

According to the latest data from the European Enterprise Association (AEB), Russian car sales from January to November in 2022 fell 60.9% to 548877 vehicles compared with the same period last year. According to Automotive Industry concern statistics, Russian car sales have declined by more than double digits every month since March, and car sales in some months have even reached the lowest level since 1991. As for the sharp decline in sales, it is mainly due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and Western sanctions, and the softening of market demand has led to more car companies withdrawing from the Russian market. Against this background, Chinese car brands have entered the Russian market to quickly fill this gap in the local market. As a result, the share of Chinese car brands in Russia has risen rapidly. At present, the market share of Chinese brands in Russia has soared from 9.6% in January to 31.3% in November. The industry forecasts that this share is likely to continue to expand in 2023. In view of this, in mid-December 2022, the head of Russian authorities told local media that many foreign automakers had left production lines in Russia and suggested that some of their production capacity be sold to Chinese brand car companies. let these companies expand their production capacity in Russia.

The European Enterprise Association (AEB) predicts that full-year sales in 2022 may be around 600000 vehicles, and the Russian industry and trade ministry said the Russian car market is expected to pick up in 2023 with the increase in production by car companies such as AvtoVAZ and the opening of Moscovici and Harvard plants. As for the sales forecast for 2023, Manturov said that the Russian Ministry of Industry and Trade expects the total production of various types of cars in Russia to reach at least 800000 vehicles in 2023, compared with 600000 in 2022, which means that car production may increase by more than 30 per cent in 2023. Manturov said that the current domestic car prices in Russia are generally stable, and the prices of new cars of some brands have fallen by 18% compared with March 2022.

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