According to the Association of European Businesses (AEB) statistics, the sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles in Russia in 2019 declined by 2.3% year-on-year making 1.76 mn units. In December, the sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles were up 2.3% year-on-year to 179.2 thousand.
“In a strong closing effort, December market sales improved by 2.3% year-on-year. Despite that, cumulative sales in the 4th quarter however remained in negative territory showing a 3.0% drop compared to the same period one year ago. Full year sales in 2019 reached 1.76 million units – 41 thousand units or 2.3% below the level of 2018. For the current year, we expect similarly challenging market circumstances. Full year sales in 2020 are anticipated at a level of 1.72 million units which would represent a further 2.1% decline from the market level reached in 2019”, Joerg Schreiber, Chairman of the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee, commented.
Lada remained the leader of the Russian car market in December with its sales increasing by 0.8% year-on-year up to 35.7 thousand units.
KIA continues to rate the second with its sales amounting to 18 thousand cars, down 0.4% year-on-year.
Renault saw its sales surge by 97.7% year-on-year up to 16 thousand units and moved to the third position in the rating.
Hyundai moved down to the fourth position with its sales declining by 2.6% up to 14.7 thousand cars.
Toyota forced Volkswagen out of the Top5 and rates the fifth, its sales increased by 1.9% up to some 12.5 thousand units.
Among the car brands that demonstrated the most spectacular growth in December were Changan (up 47.6-fold), Haval (up 4.1-fold), Geely (up 2.3-fold), smart (up 2.2-fold), and FAW (up 2-fold).
The brands that saw their sales decline the most were Ford (-95%), Lifan (-90%), Zotye (-87%), Chrysler (-80%), Foton commercial vehicles (73%), Honda (-65%), Mercedes-Benz (-62%), Chevrolet (-58%), and Jaguar (-51%).