VLADIVOSTOK (AFP) - Thousands of car lovers rallied on Sunday in Russia's far eastern city of Vladivostok to protest a government decision to raise tariffs on imported foreign automobiles.

About 3,000 people gathered in the city centre to hold signs with slogans like "Against Tariffs" as passing drivers honked their horns in solidarity.

Meanwhile at the Vladivostok airport more than 3,000 people gathered for an unexpectedly large protest, forcing airport authorities to summon police to maintain order.

The demonstrations were held to protest a decree signed Wednesday by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin that will temporarily raise import tariffs on foreign cars in a bid to help Russian automakers.

About 200,000 people work in the import, sales and servicing of foreign cars in the Vladivostok region and will suffer as demand drops, said Anastasia Zagoruiko, one of the protest organisers.

"Thousands of people, at a time of worldwide financial crisis, could lose their jobs and businesses," Zagoruiko told reporters.

One sign at the protest in the city centre read: "Mr. Putin, why do you get driven about in a Mercedes? Why not a Volga? Aren't you a patriot?"

A Volga is a Russian automobile brand that was considered prestigious in the Soviet era but which has lately fallen on hard times.

Other protestors defended the right of Russian drivers to buy cars with Japanese-style right-hand steering wheels, a popular cause in Vladivostok, a Pacific port city much closer to Tokyo than Moscow.

Sunday's rally followed two similar protests in Vladivostok last month. Mass civil actions in support of automobile owners' rights regularly draw thousands of supporters in Russia, while pro-democracy protests by the country's liberal opposition are typically much smaller.