Under Russian traffic rules, drivers must drive on the right side of the road but traffic officials generally tolerate cars with Japanese style Right Hand Drive (RHD) cars designed to run on the left hand side of the road.
Right Hand Drive Car from Japan
Used cars from Japan are as popular as Left Hand Drive (LHD) cars by Russian automobile makers such as Volga. As per the latest estimates, Russia has more than 1.5 million RHD vehicles on its roads. In the far eastern regions of Russia, such as Vladivostok, RHD cars make up to 90% of the total. Many drivers in this region own cars with right-hand drive imported from Japan. This includes not only private cars, but also government vehicles, ambulances and police cars.
However, Russian bureaucrats have recently launched a full-scale campaign against used cars with right-hand drive. This is said to be incited and financed by Russian domestic automakers and Western corporations who plan to set up their automobile factories in Russia. Russia also plans to sharply raise duties on used imported cars to protect its domestic automobile makers.
Recently, thousands of drivers in Russia’s far eastern city of Vladivostok have rallied against a possible government ban on cars with right-hand steering wheels, which is proposed by the Russian government commission. Protesters also criticized a proposal to raise tariffs on imported vehicles. Drivers gathered in the city centre and held signs saying “We have the right to right-hand wheels”.
Similar protests were held in other cities of Russia’s far east, including Khabarovsk and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
We understand that many of our Russian customers would be affected by such regulation changes. However, we will try to do our best by finding partners who could offer services to conver RHD cars to LHD, replace headlamps etc to meet the new regulations.
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