Recently, according to the Russian Satellite News Agency, Yandex requested Chinese automakers BAIC Group and Chery, as well as local Russian car companies Volga and Belarusian car companies Unison to provide vehicles for leasing companies that cooperate with Yandex.Taxi. After the lease is completed, the taxi company will take over the car and turn it into its own asset.
In this regard, Chery Automobile Russia representative office confirmed that it has cooperated with Yandex.Taxi. "We provide rental cars for them with guaranteed commercial use," commented Tit Ignatyev, manager of the corporate sales and used car department of Chery Automobile Russia.
It is reported that Yandex is not a car rental company, but intends to be an intermediary between taxi companies and car manufacturers, and arranges the supply of car rental cooperative companies under the condition that it is guaranteed to be used for taxis. To keep the fleet updated, Yandex probably needs more than 50,000 new cars every year.
According to reports, Yandex.Taxi previously mainly used models produced by car companies such as Kia, Skoda and Volkswagen for the largest "economy" market, and these car companies are no longer at the center of the market.
The situation is further exacerbated by shortages of cars from taxi companies due to the epidemic and other reasons, coupled with the choice of several automakers to leave Russia in 2022 in the context of sanctions.
Citymobil reports that taxi companies are now aggressively acquiring cars to renew their fleets, as there is little left on the Russian market. Fleet owners have started looking for new suppliers among Asian manufacturers, and the average cost of a car in Russia has doubled both abroad and domestically.
In April, car-sharing service "Yandex.Drive" faced lease expiry issues that could cost them a third of their fleet orders. At the time, Yandex's main customers said they didn't want to supply cars at the old price because of higher rates, and issued quotas for taxis and car-sharing services, and then the cost of a "big rental" for a car increased from 79,000 rubles to 96,000 rubles (about 10944 RMB).
