A rating of the most popular brands and models of the Russian car market has been compiled: how Chinese brands performed

In the first quarter of 2026, the Russian car market added 7.3%, but the growth was ensured not by the leaders, but by the “second echelon”: with the fall of Lada and some Chinese brands, Haval, Tenet, and Toyota were in the black.

The market is growing, but the leaders are losing: general background

In the first three months of 2026 in Russia, 264,909 new passenger cars were sold, which is 7.3% morethan in the same period of 2025. Moreover, only in March the market for the first time in three months crossed the mark of 100 thousand cars: according to Autostat, 104.3 thousand cars were sold, which is 30.6% higher than in March last year and approximately 30% morethan in February.

The paradox is that market growth was ensured not by traditional leaders, but by challenger brands, including Chinese ones: against the backdrop of declining sales of Lada and some of the large “Chinese” brands, Haval, Tenet and Toyota, as well as a number of other players working through parallel imports, moved up.

Top brands: Lada is still first, but the “Chinese” are advancing

The ranking of brands in terms of sales volume is still headed by Lada, however, the demand for domestic cars declined at the beginning of the year.
- In January–March, Lada dealers sold more than 63.8 thousand cars, which is –17.4% by the first quarter of 2025.
- In March, AvtoVAZ sold about 25 thousand Lada cars, which is approximately the same as last year and shows stabilization after a disastrous start.

The second place among brands is occupied by Haval - the largest Chinese player in the market: in the first quarter, about 35-36 thousand cars were sold, which gives an increase of about 14% year on year. The top three is closed by the Russian-Chinese brand Tenet, whose Kaluga-assembled crossovers sold almost 28 thousand units.

The top five also included:
- Geely - approximately 15-16 thousand cars sold and a decrease of 4-5% compared to last year.
- Belgee (a joint Belarusian-Chinese project) - about 12.8 thousand cars, which has increased significantly over the year.

In terms of dynamics, experts single out Toyota: the demand for Japanese cars has more than doubled (×2.1), despite the lack of official supplies and the focus on parallel imports. In addition to Lada, three Chinese brands were in the red - Geely (-4.4%), Jaecoo (-5.2%) and Changan (-40.7%), which reflects increased competition within the Chinese segment itself.

Model rating: Granta is first, followed by the Haval and Tenet crossovers

In the “model” standings, based on the results of both March and the entire first quarter, Lada Granta is confidently in the lead.
- In March, approximately 9.8 thousand Granta were sold.
- In the first three months - about 24.7–24.8 thousand cars.

At the same time, even for the main bestseller, the market “sank”: sales of Granta decreased by 7.8% in March and by 21.8% for the quarter compared to last year.

The top three in March also included:
- Haval Jolion - about 5.5 thousand crossovers sold.
- Tenet T7 - approximately 5.48 thousand cars, losing to Jolyon by only a few dozen cars.

If we look at the end of the entire first quarter, then Tenet T7 managed slightly ahead of Haval Jolion: according to various estimates, 14.3 thousand versus 14.2 thousand cars, that is, the gap was literally several dozen cars. This clearly shows how fierce the competition has become among Chinese best-selling crossovers.

What does the rating mean for Chinese passenger cars

The results of the first quarter of 2026 confirm: Chinese passenger cars have finally gained a foothold not in a “niche”, but in the core of the Russian market.
-Haval and Tenet are consistently among the three leading brands, and Geely and Belgee complete the top five.
- In addition to the Lada Granta and Vesta, the model top 10 is dominated by Haval Jolion, Haval M6, Tenet T7, Tenet T4, Belgee X50, Geely Monjaro and other crossovers of Chinese origin.

At the same time, the spread in dynamics shows that “just being a Chinese brand is no longer enough”: those who manage to update the line, expand the service and work with the price are growing (example Haval and Tenet), and those who were late with restyling or lost in the cost of ownership record a fall (example Changan, Jaecoo and partially Geely).

Together, top brands and top models for the first quarter of 2026 demonstrate a new reality: the foundation of the market still rests on the Lada Granta, but every second bestseller is already a Chinese crossover, which means that in the coming years the balance of power will depend primarily on how the “Chinese” will be able to keep the price, service and residual value of their cars in Russia.