"I said that this should be absolutely excluded and all officials of the country should drive domestic cars," Putin said, telling officials they should strive to develop domestic brands, domestic cars, and other domestic products.
Chinese carmakers are seizing market share in Russia, capitalising on the departure of Western players, auto industry data shows.
Russia's Lada holds the number one spot in the domestic market, with its share for January-June at 32.6%, up from 21.6% last year.
Lada's share slipped slightly in July year on year, as Chinese carmakers' sales continued rising rapidly, the data showed.
Chinese brands, such as Haval (601633.SS), Chery and Geely (0175.HK), accounted for the next six spots in terms of market share in July.
Persons:
VAZ, Alexey Malgavko, Vladimir Putin, PPK, Putin, capitalising, Russia's Lada, Lada's, Gleb Stolyarov, Alexander Marrow, Mark Potter
Organizations:
Lada, REUTERS, Mercedes, Benz, Renault, Nissan, Reuters, Chery, Geely, HK, Thomson
Locations:
Soviet, Izhevsk, Russia, Ukraine, Crimean, Kyiv, Moscow, Crimea