Russia Sales Rise for First Time Since 2014

Russian new-car sales rise for the first time in two years in November, and the industry is holding its breath, waiting to see if it happens again in December.

The Association of European Businesses Automobile Manufacturers Committee says deliveries edged up 0.6% – or 727 units – to 132,346.

The result left the 11-month total down 12.0% at 1,279,987.

Committee Chairman Joerg Schreiber says November saw the first positive year-on-year result since December 2014.

“It is good to be able to say such a thing after all, but it is far too early to read a trend turnaround into this,” Schreiber says.

“For now, all eyes are on December, which has the potential to demonstrate that the market continues to move in the right direction.”

Lada continued to lead the market with November sales up a healthy 18% to 25,507 units. Hyundai held on to second place with a 4% gain to 15,779, ahead of Kia, up a similar 4% at 14,651.

But after 11 months, all three remain in negative territory.

Lada was down 3% at 238,666 units, while Kia followed, down 12% to 136,373, with Hyundai off 12% at 131,207.

Lada’s Granta narrowly won the monthly sales race despite falling 5.4% to 8,516 units. Kia’s Rio narrowed the gap, edging up 1.0% to 8,408 and moving ahead of Hyundai’s Solaris, which dropped 27.9% to 8,259.

The Solaris is the market leader after 11 months, down 22.9% to 82,338 units. The Rio put in a solid performance in a severely down market, falling only 10.4% to 79,663, ahead of the Granta, down 27.3% to 78,953.