Russia to transition to standardized solutions for automobile electronics, share of domestic producers grows to 20% -ministry

MOSCOW. April 12 (Interfax) - Domestic manufacturers of electronics for the automotive industry doubled their share of the Russian market to 20% in 2022 from 10% in 2021, the Industry and Trade Ministry told Interfax, citing data from the Consortium of Automobile Electronic Instrument and Telematics Companies.

Data received from this association "make it possible to confidently talk about the fast pace of import substitution and deepening of localization, despite the temporary decrease in production of end equipment," the ministry said.

The ministry said that "despite the significant drop of the market" in 2022, Russian manufacturers of automobile electronics "exceeded targets for revenue growth." It did not provide specific figures.

A shortage of electronics was one of the factors that curbed production in the auto industry in 2021, and last year electronics were included in the list of goods on which western countries imposed export restrictions as part of sanctions against Russia.

The ministry said it and state company NAMI and the Consortium of Automobile Electronic Instrument and Telematics Companies have worked out the first Russian government standards in the area of automobile electronics. They set out the "main terms that define and describe the structure of products in the area of automobile electronics," the ministry said.

"This is a step toward the further formation of a system of requirements and standardization of products on the automobile electronics market," a ministry spokesman said.

"Products made in accordance with the uniform requirements will very likely be usable not only for certain consumers, but for most of the market as a whole," the ministry said.

Russia now "has all the necessary capacity for mass production of the necessary components," the ministry said.

Russia plans to soon move the automobile electronics industry to a point system for assessing localization, which will make it simpler to include products in the list of "Russian" ones eligible for preferences in government procurements. The coming changes were reported Tuesday by RBC, citing draft amendments to Resolution 719, which governs rules for applying the point system to assess localization.

The ministry confirmed to Interfax that the document has been drafted, but not yet published for discussion.