A dealer who sells electric cars and hybrids of the LiAuto, Voyah, Zeekr, BYD, Yangwang, Hongqi, Polestar and Volkswagen brands imported from China through unofficial channels is having problems. It turned out that customers were sold cars that were pledged, which is why they may have to part with them. This was stated by the official representative of the exporter of Chinese models Biulu from Chongqing, to whom the Russian seller has a debt, the Izvestia newspaper writes.
“Cars sold or sold by Neo Cars Moscow may be in the pledge register of the Federal Notary Chamber,” says a letter from the exporter Biulu, cited by the newspaper. “Customers who have purchased vehicles that are pledged will have a lien transferred to them and may be required to repay the obligations.” The letter also notes that the agreement concluded between Biulu and Neo Cars directly prohibits the issuance of pledged cars.
In total, Neo Cars sold more than a hundred of these cars. The Mash telegram channel, in turn, writes that there are 106 pledged cars, and these are Lixiang (LiAuto) and Zeekr models. In order to check whether a specific car is pledged, you need to check its presence in the pledge registry (pledge notification number – 2024-009-281723-035). Biulu, for its part, is already preparing an appeal to law enforcement agencies and a statement of claim.
For clients who have already bought a pledged car, this threatens them with having to part with it. A lawyer interviewed by the newspaper noted that “in such cases, the court most often does not recognize the buyer as a bona fide purchaser, considering that he did not exercise due diligence when concluding the transaction.”
Neo Cars itself confirmed that more than a hundred cars supplied by Biulu are indeed pledged, and two thirds of them have been sold. The company explained that the situation was complicated: this was due to changes in customs legislation that came into force on April 1, delays in payments through correspondent banks since December 2023 (transfers could take a month and a half) and problems with the supply of cars from the Chinese side .
This turned out to be that customers began to demand discounts from Neo Cars, some wanted to take the deposit, and some even went to court. According to the director of Neo Cars Bel, Anatoly Kurushin, who is also the commercial director of Neo Cars Moscow, all this led to “serious losses and an outflow of working capital.” “Additional funds had to be spent in connection with the emergency delivery of a batch of cars to Russia before April 1, but the Chinese did not agree to the situation, and more than a hundred cars ended up as collateral,” the newspaper quotes him as saying.
Kurushin complained that the Chinese partner is in no hurry to remove the deposit from the cars that have already been paid for and demands that the entire lot be transferred to himself until the Russian side pays in full. Moreover, the exporter allegedly “remotely raises and lowers the windows of client cars from master accounts.”
What do the Chinese have: new items from China
