Pursuits
Weak Ruble Lets Russia Export Cars It Doesn’t Make
- Land Rovers, Lexus re-sold from Russia in 2016, Avtostat says
- Central bank, some officials at loggerheads over exchange rate
Russian 1000 ruble currency banknotes sit in this arranged photograph.
Photographer: Simon Dawson/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The oil crash gave enough of a jolt to the ruble to send a steady stream of luxury cars from Russia to Germany, China and the U.S., with sales of just Land Rovers quintupling. At last, a textbook case of how Russia found shelter from the economic storm?
Yes, but for one thing: it made none of those cars. Seizing on currency disparities, Russians made quick money by re-exporting the vehicles, which got so cheap in ruble terms that selling them back -- sometimes to the same country that manufactured them in the first place -- became a way to turn a profit.