YEKATERINBURG, Russia, July 9 (Reuters) - Russia's Industry and Trade Ministry has revised its forecast for a decline in new car sales this year to 25-30 percent from 25-50 percent, minister Denis Manturov said on Thursday.
Manturov told Reuters the revision was due to the implementation of state support measures which included a car scrappage scheme and car loans subsidies aimed at reviving demand hit by the economic crisis.
Sales of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in Russia shrank 36.4 percent in the first half of 2015 to 782,094, the Association of European Businesses (AEB) lobby group said on Wednesday. The AEB expects a 36 percent sales drop in 2015 as a whole. (Reporting by Natalia Shurmina; Writing by Maria Kiselyova; Editing by Alexander Winning)