Panic-buying of Imported Cars Across Russia

Due to the recent implosion of the ruble, consumers across Russia have been purchasing large-ticket imported products over fears of future price hikes and sales suspensions. For instance, Apple and IKEA have suspended online sales in Russia, Audi has suspended shipments to Russia, and many other companies will be significantly raising prices on imported products come the new year.

Here is the latest US Dollar to Ruble exchange rate:

As you see, $1 US buys almost 60 Russian Rubles. Last year, $1 US bought almost 33 Russian Rubles.

Due to the collapse of the ruble, many products are significantly less expensive in US Dollar terms, as is evident from the price list below. I was going to include comparison pricing of Audis, but I was not able to find prices on Audi Russia's website (presumably due to Audi's decision to suspend shipments into Russia).

As explained above, except for the Mercedes-Benz S500/S550, the above imported cars are significantly less expensive in Moscow than they are in New York, with savings of between 15.9 percent and 29.4 percent depending on the make and model.

The recent volatility of the ruble is forcing Russians to liquidate their rubles into large-ticket items while they can in anticipation of future price hikes.