What is the main task of the Development Director in the purchasing group?
- Search for ways to develop the group and its partners. Means the work on strengthening relationships both within the group (between participants) and with external partners, which can be suppliers / manufacturers of goods and services, as well as partners in the field of activity (perhaps even competitors).
- Search for new suppliers / manufacturers of auto parts, or search for new sources of goods that can be brought through parallel imports; goods that are in high demand in Russian Federation, but cannot be delivered here by local representative offices of foreign companies for one reason or another.
What's new on the market right now?
- Perpahs, the word "new" is not applicable to Russian realities. Over the past 9-10 months, the current situation has become commonplace. The only thing that can be emphasized is that local players in the field of auto parts (large wholesale companies) have begun to pay more attention to local manufacturers and products from countries that are ready to work with Russian business in the current realities. Previously, this was practically impossible, since world-famous brands had very strong positions in Russian Federation, and due to huge financial investments in advertising and comprehensive promotion, they left no chance for local producers to compete.
How does parallel import work? What will happen to prices and what risks may buyers face?
- It's very simple: you buy any product abroad, wherever you want or where you can, and bring it to Russian Federation, organize the customs clearance yourself and sell it (or use it at your own discretion). It is important that 2 points are observed:
- A) Products must be certified on the territory of the customs union. If the product is not certified, then you yourself need to make a certificate for it.
- B) Should be included intothe list of permitted products for parallel import.
Regarding the prices, they are stabilizing and declining, as large market players have found resources to import goods to Russian Federation. Accordingly, these resources are growing and increasing day by day, which has a favorable effect on the availability of products in Russian Federation and its price positioning.
- The main risk here is one - quality and warranty support. Accordingly, in the current realities, there is a high probability of obtaining a fake that will not correspond to the declared characteristics of the original product. This raises the question of how to protect yourself from this story.
Actually, there is only one answer: buy products only from trusted sources and reduce experiments to a minimum. Large and proven players at the auto parts market inRussian Federation value their reputation and will not spoil their karma because of a single income.
What changes in the company's development strategy are taking place among the members of the Nexus group?
A very good question in the current realities. I think the main change is the company's focus away from European/North American products, towards Asian, Middle East, South American, local/Russian and plus the development of private labels.
Also, there are companies that are moving from 100% of the trading business to production. Start investing in production. Now is a very prosperous time for this.
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Recently, you were at the Aftermarket Summit 2023 in New Delhi. What trends in the Indian market can you highlight?
Yes. In January, with representatives of the NEXUS Automotive Russia group, we visited an auto parts exhibition in New Delhi and Aftermarket Summit 2023. Special thanks for the invitation to these events to Mr.Navodit Verma, the Second Secretary of the Economic and Commercial Department of the Embassy of India in Moscow.
The summit in India was attended by representatives of large business in the auto parts industry of India, who discussed the ways forward. India aims to become the largest production site for the whole world, including and in the field of auto parts, i.e. finding clients and attracting investments.
Accordingly, our delegation was greeted very warmly. Russian Federation has always been a friendly country for India, and in the current realities it is also becoming a major trade and industrial partner. It will be beneficial for both parties.
The issues of the development of electric vehicles, the advantages and disadvantages of this perspective were also raised.
Do you think that the share of electric vehicles in Russian Federation can increase significantly?
In the short term, I do not believe in a sharp significant jump in the share of electric vehicles in Russian Federation for several reasons:
- Here I mean not only recharging the batteries, their ability to provide long mileage and their durability, but also the repair base. As for batteries, we must also take into account that our country is large and the climate is very changeable, this winter in some regions the temperature dropped to -50%, under these conditions, owners of cars with conventional internal combustion engines do not turn them off around the clock, what can I say about battery behavior in electric vehicles.
- B) Recycling. An important issue is battery disposal. As far as I understand, this issue has not been resolved globally.
- C) Availability. To date, the most popular "electric train" in Russian Federationis TESLA, but for the price it is not very affordable, it will say so "not quite a people's car", but more a toy for adults + level of equipment (including quality materials) and comfort in it leaves much to be desired.
What is the future of the Russian auto parts market?
Forecast is not my strength, so let's leave this matter to people who deal with analytics and statistics. But, as practice shows, all the analytics and forecasts that were made in the second half of 2021 and January-February 2022 are simply not compatible with reality. Therefore, we will adhere to the wisdom of the ancient Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius: "Do what you must and it will happen what is destined"