The sales of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in Russia in August dropped by 62% year-on-year to 41,700 vehicles (chart), according to the Association of European Businesses.

In 8M22 overall 0.4mn vehicles were sold, down 61% y/y. However, in August alone in month-on-month terms some recovery was seen as sales were up 29% compared to July. (chart)

As followed by bne IntelliNews, the sanctions for the military invasion of Ukraine have brought the Russian car market screeching to a halt. Due to shortages of imported components most Russian car manufacturing has effectively stalled and the car market is expected to contract by at least 50% this year.  However, Lada models of Russian largest car maker AvtoVaz accounted for almost half of the sales in August, which is attributed to the launch of state-discounted car lease support.

On the back of the programme AvtoVaz boosted its rock-bottom sales and showed only 7% decline to 18,000 vehicles. The company increased its market share to 43% in the reporting month.

Under sanctions the Lada Granta and the 2022 Lada Niva Legend models are currently being produced in "simplified" versions and are missing many of the standard accessories and only recently have resumed the installation of airbags.

AvtoVaz was effectively nationalised after its largest shareholder French carmaker Renault handed over its stake in the company to the state for one ruble.

Kommersant daily also reminds that August is a seasonally favourable month for car sales.
While Kia remained one of the best-sellers in Russia, its sales dropped by 77% to 4,000 vehicles. At the same time, Chinese Haval saw its sales expand by 26% to 2,900 vehicles and was the third-highest selling model in August.