Crossovers in Russia are the most popular class of cars. They account for more than half of all sales on the market. As they say, Russians go to great lengths not to build good roads. But there are crossovers that are not at all successful in Russia.
The rating of useless, or rather, not in demand crossovers in Russia, was compiled based on the results of 2021. Entered the top 10 five Chinese crossovers, three European models, one “Japanese” and one “American”.
I didn’t even close the top ten losers, but shut them up Opel Crossland. Its performance – 77 cars per year – is much worse than that of the Changan CS75 that closed the top ten “outcasts” in 2020. It was bought in 2020 in the amount of 186 copies. Unjustified hopes are especially sad for Opel suppliers. Quite a pretty Crossland before its debut on the Russian market was called, if not a killer for KIA Seltos, Renault Kaptur, Skoda Karoq and others like it.
The reason for the failure was an inadequate assessment of the Russian market. A car with front-wheel drive and a 6-speed automatic transmission was brought to Russia, but with a 1.2-liter turbo engine with a capacity of 110 “horses”. And all this at a price of 1.7 to 2.15 million rubles. Such an offer is hardly enviable. Garage experts would have assessed the situation briefly, but accurately: “the greed of the fraer ruined.”
A total of 69 cars were sold by Jaguar in Russia. We are talking about the model I-Pace. The electric car has everything: all-wheel drive, a battery for 470 kilometers, and two electric motors with a total capacity of 234 horsepower. But there are always “buts”. One of them is the risk of entering the Russian market of electric vehicles, and it was fully justified. Secondly, ordinary Jaguars are more familiar and do not require a separate infrastructure, and they cost less. For an electric crossover they wanted from 7.5 to 8 million rubles. There were more than 50 people willing to shell out such money, but less than a hundred.
There were even fewer buyers for Citroen C3 Aircross. There are 68 of them! Engines for the “Frenchman” are offered from 82 horsepower to 110. Boxes are either mechanical or automatic. The cheapest offer starts from 1 million 659 thousand rubles, the maximum configuration is estimated at 2.2 million.
The machine that changed beliefs. It’s a Jeep Renegade. In 2021, the last 59 cars were sold. The model finished “their performances” in the Russian market.
Less Renegade can only be Lifan X60. The once popular model was assembled at the bankrupt Circassian plant “Derways”. Now the remnants are being sold – cars assembled in 2018 and 2017. In 2021, 56 years of completely “new” “three-year-olds” and “four-year-olds” were sold. If these were racing horses, they would be in price. For a car this age, even “in oil”, is not a good recommendation. And that’s putting it mildly.
In the top five most unwanted – Zotye T600. Chinese attempt to cross BMW and Porsche “snatched up” in the amount of 46 copies. One less car, Lexus sold its hybrid NX300. In the new 2022, this crossover model is no longer offered by the Japanese manufacturer. Didn’t go – so didn’t go!
“Non-selling bronze” for the Foton Sauvana SUV. Here the engines are strong, and the gearboxes are different. But there were no sales. Only the Lifan X50 sells worse. It was purchased in a year by 30 Russian buyers. We hope that they paid for it at the price indicated on the site, which has not been updated since 2018. Somewhere in the region of 600 to 700 thousand rubles. No more. In this case, it can still be called a “happy” purchase.
And finally, the fanfare sounds: the main loser of the year appears. And this is the coupe-shaped Zotye Coupa, a variant of the T600 that auto journalists aptly dubbed “the unreleased version of the Touareg.” Five sales per year are worth “gold”!
Sold in a year as many cars as are sold per hour in the dealerships of the top ten best-selling Nissan X-Trail. But there is also a Mazda CX-5, Skoda Karoq, Nissan Qashqai, KIA Sportage, Volkswagen Tiguan, Toyota RAV4, Renault Duster, as well as LADA Niva and Hyundai Creta.
The choice of cars from one or another top 10 is up to the buyer. In one case, he gets one of the thousands of cars, in the second – almost like a museum. Who knows, maybe this is an investment in the distant future?