According to the Association of European Businesses (AEB) statistics, the sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles in Russia during January-August 2021 increased by 21.3% year-on-year and to make about 1.1 mn units. In August alone, 111.4 thousand cars and light commercial vehicles were sold, up 17% year-on-year and down 13.9% month-on-month.
“In August, we experienced a significant drop in car sales with -17% (114 130 passenger cars and light commercial vehicles sold) as compared to August 2020. Whereas the demand situation remains stable, the production cuts resulting from the worldwide lack of electronic components continue increasing the gap between demand and supply thus negatively influencing the sales figures. As there is no sign of a soon resolution of this situation, we expect volatile sales situation and further market decrease in the next few months. YoY results still remain positive. For the period from January to August 2021 1 067 890 new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles were sold, which is 21,3% higher than last year. With the existing trend we so far keep our year end forecast (+9,8%) unchanged but will evaluate it again after the third quarter,” Thomas Staertzel, Chairman of the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee, commented.
Lada remained the leader of the Russian car market in August 2021 with its sales down 32.1% year-on-year to 19.4 thousand units.
KIA rated the second with its sales down 12.8% year-on-year to 17.3 thousand cars.
Hyundai was the third with its sales amounting to 14.1 thousand cars, down 19.2% year-on-year.
Renault ranked the fourth, its sales declined by 11.1% year-on-year down to 9.7 thousand units.
Toyota replaced Škoda in the fifth position with its sales down 3.9% year-on-year to 6.8 thousand units.
The brands that increased their sales the most were Genesis (up 3.9-fold), Geely (up 2.6-fold), Cadillac (up 2.3-fold), and Opel commercial vehicles (up 2.2-fold).
The brands that saw their sales decline the most were Zotye (-92%), Foton commercial vehicles (-88%), Brilliance (-77%), Changan (-61%), Lifan (- 56%), and Porsche (-54%).