Russian Car Sales Slide Eases to 4.1% in February

Russian new-vehicle sales fell 4.1% to 106,658 units in February from a year-ago 111,232 in a mixed market showing more faint signs of recovery.

The Association of European Businesses Automobile Manufacturers Committee says last month’s result left the year-to-date total down 4.5% at 184,574 units.

“We see a very diverse sales performance by brand this month, (but) in aggregate not enough to generate a plus for the total market, as some of the traditional volume makers contributed less than they did in the same period one year ago,” committee Chairman Joerg Schreiber says in a statement.

“The possible reasons for that are manifold but can be assumed as temporary, which should improve the outlook for total market sales in the coming months.”

The top three sellers all showed year-on-year improvement in February, led by Lada, up 5.1% at 20,003 units, ahead of Kia, up 7.8% at 12,390, and Renault, gaining 9.1% at 9,626.

After the year’s first two months, Lada already has a comfortable lead, up 5% from like-2016 at 36,337 units. Kia was ahead 10.5% at 22,696 units and Hyundai was down 13.1% at 16,085.

Hyundai, Toyota and Nissan alone almost kept keep Russia’s February sales in negative territory.

Hyundai’s 10.6% fall to 9,391 units, Toyota’s 20% drop to 6,346 and Nissan’s 28% slide to 5,300 combined for a February loss accounting for 4,545 of the month’s 4,574-unit fall.

Kia’s Rio was the month’s best-selling model, edging up 16 units to 7,033 units. Lada’s Granta fell 17% to 5,260 units, while its Vesta small family car, which debuted last year, rose 70.3% to 5,101.

After two months the Rio was Russia’s sales leader, up 20.4% to 12,726 units. Granta was second despite skidding 27.9% to 9,884 units, ahead of the fast-closing Vesta, up 100% at 9,189.