Tatarstan dealers have frozen sales of dump trucks from China for 18 billion rubles

“The question is whether Shacman trucks have been selected for testing”

The heated confrontation over the introduction of a temporary ban on the sale of Chinese Shacman SX3258 trucks in Russia is gaining momentum. According to Realnoe Vremya's sources, there is no reason to expect an early normalisation of the distributor's relations with certification authorities. The reason is that the distributor has not yet submitted a “recall program” to eliminate deficiencies (i.e., a plan with corrective measures) for consideration, and perhaps it is not ready.

At least, the NAMI experts who prepared the conclusion on the non-compliance of the Shacman SX3258 design with the requirements of the Russian Technical Regulations were not notified about the upcoming tests of the equipment, which received many complaints from regulatory authorities.

“I don't know if they (the distributor of Shakman Motors PLC, which imports machinery from China) have implemented a recall program," an expert from the NAMI centre told Realnoe Vremya. “The question is whether Shacman trucks have been selected for testing. Personally, we have not seen the test documents at our testing centre. And we have not received any relevant letters about this.

At the same time, the centre emphasised that the distributor is obliged to submit the “recall program” directly only to Rosstandart, and the latter has the right at its discretion to decide whether to involve the expertise of NAMI (Central Scientific Research Automobile and Automotive Engines Institute). Although his specialists would like to take part in live tests to verify the qualities of the design features of Chinese trucks of this brand. “According to the regulation, the distributor must submit the program to Rosstandart. I don't know if we will participate in the tests," the speaker said.

“If Rosstandart decides to issue an order against us, then we will participate. But so far no such document has been seen. Therefore, it is impossible to say specifically what will happen next," NAMI argues.

The press service of Rosstandart could not clarify whether the “recall program” has been received at the moment. Shakman Motors PLC also left the publication's request unanswered. Both organisations refrained from making predictions about further developments. Thus, there is no reason to talk about the imminent resumption of sales of popular Chinese dump trucks.

Why they hindered the Shacman SX3258

The mass sale of trucks from China was suspended after the intervention of Rosstandart. On February 10, the main certification body announced the temporary withdrawal of vehicle type approval for the Shacman SX3258 dump truck, without which the import of this brand into the country is impossible. Rosstandart revealed “inconsistencies in the rear rollback protection (or the so-called underrun bar) and side protective devices, which poses a direct threat to the life and health of drivers and passengers of passenger vehicles, who will suffer significant damage in the event of an accident involving such trucks," the agency said in a published statement. Another discrepancy concerned noise, which inevitably causes fatigue for the driver.

“The identified shortcomings require drastic changes, not just repairs," the sources of Realnoe Vremya are sure. According to them, more shortcomings were found, including issues with paperwork, but they were not made public.

According to the distributor, sales were stopped after an unscheduled on-site inspection of the Central Technical Technical University of Rosstandart in relation to Shakman Motors PLC (a representative of the manufacturer Shaanxi Automobile Group Co., Ltd.), conducted on February 6. A day later, Shakman Motors independently suspended the sale until the verification results were confirmed. “On the same day, Rosstandart suspended the vehicle type approval for this model," the company said in an official statement.

A fleet of Chinese equipment worth 18 billion rubles has been frozen in Tatarstan

As a result of the suspension of the OTTS, it became impossible to sell all the equipment of this modification imported into the country. They had their electronic passports (EPTS) cancelled in the traffic police databases. We are talking about dump trucks with 6X4 and 6X6 wheel formulas.

By this time, about 2,000 new Chinese Shacman SX3258 dump trucks had accumulated in the warehouses of Tatarstan dealers, said a representative of the Kazan dealer. A total of 15,000 trucks were imported into the country, according to Rosstandart materials. The total cost of the equipment purchased by dealers is estimated at 18 billion rubles.

“The distributor of Shakman Motors PLC has promised that it will restore the status of the EPTS by February 21," he said in a conversation with Realnoe Vremya. According to him, dealers expect a quick resolution of this situation, as the brand is in demand in Tatarstan. According to him, Shacman SX3258 dump trucks were actively purchased during the construction of the M12 highway and other large facilities, so the dealer network has grown. It currently has about 10 players.

“It is unlikely that such a miracle will happen," NAMI's sources note, in their opinion, much more time is needed to eliminate the identified shortcomings, and so far nothing is known about the “revocable program”.

The management of Shakman Motors PLC, on the contrary, is convinced that the cancellation of the EPTS was premature, and the “recall program” itself can be submitted when there is verification confirmation. At the same time, the import of Chinese equipment is subject to the regulation of the Eurasian Economic Commission, and not only under federal law. “The decision of the board of the EEC dated 22 September, 2015 No. 122 does not provide for the assignment of the status of an electronic passport “cancelled” with the restriction (suspension) of the OTTS document. According to (our) lawyers companies and colleagues from Electronic Passport JSC rushed to cancel their electronic passports," Vadim Fedotov is quoted as saying. In other words, the distributor intends to defend the rights in the legal field.

“The situation is quite murky because the OTTS and EPPS were cancelled retroactively. Therefore, questions arise for those who first issued permits and then took them away," commented Sergey Sotnikov, the head of the Freight Transportation Committee of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Republic of Tatarstan. “If the OTTS were issued contrary to the law, then name the culprit and punish them. Why should businesses suffer?”

At the same time, the source of the publication admits that the restrictive measures could be related to the interests of KAMAZ. “Shakman is a serious competitor to KAMAZ. My personal opinion is that businesses have a choice to buy Russian, European or Chinese trucks. At some point, people started buying Chinese ones. If the equipment turned out to be terrible, they would have stopped buying it long ago. This is a commercial vehicle, not a toy. The Europeans are gone, now let's kick out the Chinese equipment. What are we going to use then? KAMAZ trucks? Will they be able to cope with the volumes that the Chinese vehicles handle?” the expert doubts.