Russia’s car sales down 62% y/y in February

Russia’s car sales down 62% y/y in February
Russian car sales are down by more than 62% in February y/y. / bne IntelliNews
By bne IntelliNews March 7, 2023

Russia’s sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) plummeted by 62.1% year on year to 41,900 in February, the Association of European Businesses (AEB) said in a statement on March 5. (chart)

The steep percentage fall is partly a base effect, as the war in Ukraine didn’t start until the end of February last year and so the fall in sales from the shock is not full reflected in the y/y comparison. (chart)

The data also does not include China’s car producer Chery, whose sales ranked fifth in Russia in 2022, as well as sales of car producers BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

It is not clear if the AEB will capture Chinese car sales going forward. Its members were largely big Western multinationals, most of which have suspended or sold their operations in Russia. Chinese companies have been fast to step into their shoes and have seen their sales soar.

AvtoVaz remained the leading brand in terms of sales in the reporting period, according to the AEB. Its sales edged up by 5% last month y/y to 23,400 units, and by 1% in January-February to 40,900 units.

Second was China’s auto manufacturer Haval, which sold 5,300 cars in Russia in February (up by 49%), and almost 10,000 units in January-February (up by 46%).

Geely was the third most-popular car brand in Russia in the reporting period, with sales totalling 4,000 units in February (up by 85%), and 7,500 cars in two month (up by 86%).

 

Data

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