According to the Association of European Businesses (AEB) statistics, the sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles in Russia in January-August 2018 grew 16.2% year-on-year to exceed 1.14 mn units.
In August, the sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles increased by 11% and amounted to 147.4 thousand units.
“The pace of market recovery has been robust from the start of this year, with year-on-year growth reaching 18% by the end of July. In August the healthy trend continued, supported by a spike in spontaneous customer purchases on the background of the recent weakening of the Ruble exchange rate. The growth story is likely to continue in the coming months, as the planned VAT increase from January 2019 should make sure retail demand remains strong — in any case before the end of the current year”, commented Joerg Schreiber, Chairman of the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee.
Lada remained the leader of the Russian car market in August with its sales growing 9.4% year-on-year up to 28.7 thousand units.
KIA continues to rate the second with its sales surging 25.3% up to 18.9 thousand cars.
Hyundai remains the third increasing its sales 4.1% up to 13.9 thousand cars.
Renault saw its sales grow by 3.3% year-on-year up to 11.5 thousand units, this brand rates the fourth.
Toyota is in the fifth position with its sales amounting to 9.7 thousand units, up 23.3% year-on-year.
Among the car brands that demonstrated the most spectacular growth in July were Hyundai (up 12-fold), Genesis (up 3.8-fold), Zotye (up 3.3-fold), HTM (up 2.5-fold), Changan (up 2.4-fold) and Honda (up 2.1-fold).
The brands that saw their signs decline the most were FIAT (-85%), Citroёn (-75%), Foton commercial vehicles (-62%), smart (-49%), and Isuzu commercial vehicles (-34%).