Aug 04 (New Straits Times) - Despite imposing various sanctions against Russia, Japan is still exporting a huge number of used cars to the country.
Export figures show that the number of used cars sent to Russia have tripled since May and about 40,000 more cars are waiting to be sent over to Russia.
The Asahi Shimbun reports that in late June, the Vladivostok Port in Russia's Far East was packed with new and used cars transported from Japan and South Korea. Many of them are SUVs, minivans and large luxury models.
According to the report, Russian companies said they were flooded with orders from across the country and were often forced to stop taking orders as they were unable to meet the demand.
The Asahi Shimbun report said between 40,000 and 45,000 vehicles have been purchased and were waiting for loading in Japan.
Further compounding the issue is that Japanese shipping companies have stopped their services from Yokohama and Kobe to Russia's Far East due to the economic sanctions against the country.
A Russian cargo ship loaded with used cars had also caught fire while it was en route to Vladivostok from Fushiki Port in Toyama Prefecture in late June, resulting in its temporary suspension.
The report also said that Japanese used cars have become cheaper mainly due to the strong Russian ruble.
Before the conflict started, one ruble was around 1.5 yen and it dropped to less than 0.9 yen shortly after that. ...continue reading
