Long, Cold Winter Chills Q1 Russia Vehicle Sales

A 4% drop in Russian new-vehicle sales in March leaves first-quarter volume virtually unchanged from the previous year as an unusually long winter freezes buyer intentions.

The Association of European Businesses’ Automobile Manufacturers Committee says March sales of 244,030 units were down 9,070 from prior-year’s 253,100.

This left first-quarter sales at 616,770 units, up 0.03% from 615,017 units compared with year-ago.

Committee Chairman Joerg Schreiber says the March result almost equaled the small gains recorded in the first two months of the year.

“As a result, we are looking at a flat market performance in the first quarter of 2013, in line with the AEB full-year forecast published at the beginning of the year,” he says in a statement.

Based on a committee member poll in early January, the Russian industry is forecasting a range of plus or minus 5% around a median of 2.95 million deliveries this year. “That forecast still stands, but we will have to watch further developments closely,” Schreiber says.

Committee members report the number of new customer orders in the first three months of 2013 has not caught up with the strong momentum seen in the same period last year.

“One reason for that may be the unusually long winter season,” Schreiber says. “We hope that with the final onset of spring weather, customer activity will increase and contribute to a robust sales result in the second quarter.”

Industry leader Lada’s deliveries slowed faster than that of the industry in March, down 7% to 40,480 units for a first-quarter total off 2% to 107,427.

Renault followed, increasing 16% to 17,990 units for the month and ahead 22% for the first three months to 48,030.

Kia improved 10% year-over-year in March to 16,571 units for a 3-month total up 6% to 41,724. That was enough to surpass Hyundai, which fell 2% for the month to 15,919 units for a year-to-date total off 1% to 40,714.

Chevrolet was fifth in March deliveries, slipping 10% to 15,425 units for a 3-month total dipping 5% to 36,404. Ford turned in the ninth-best performance for the month, dropping 11% to 10,239 units, for a first-quarter result down 13% to 23,654.

General Motors’ Opel brand was in 10^th place, rising 7% to 7,447 deliveries last month for a year-to-date result up 14% to 19,832.

The AvtoVAZ-Renault-Nissan alliance saw March sales fall 5% to 73,603 units, giving it a first-quarter total of 194,192 units, up just 0.3% from year-ago’s 193,655. Volkswagen Group followed, as its sales slumped 7% for the month to 12,806 units, giving it a 3-month total up 1% to 66,497.

GM Group’s March deliveries fell 5% to 21,442 units for a 1% first-quarter uptick to 56,616.