Russian March, Q1 Sales Figures Tap Into Black Ink

Russian new vehicle sales pull out of their long downward spiral, soaring 9.4% year-on-year in March, enough to wipe out the losses of the first two months and put the first quarter in the black for the first time in four years.

The Association of European Businesses Automobile Manufacturers Committee says dealerships delivered 137,894 units, putting the year’s first three months ahead 1% at 322,464 units from prior-year’s 319,220.

“Finally!” committee Chairman Joerg Schreiber says. “The sales trend on the Russian car market is moving in the right direction. This is great news for our market.

“But as the saying goes, one swallow does not make a summer,” he adds. “More solid month results will be needed before we can call this a robust trend.”

Lada led the market with March sales up 13% at 25,110 units. Kia followed, up 18% at 14,614 units, just ahead of the hard-charging Hyundai, up 29% to 14,219 units.

Through the first quarter, Lada was up 8% at 81,447 units, with Kia ahead 13% at 37,310 and Hyundai up 3% at 30,304.

Ford managed a 3% gain in March for 11th place with 4,173 deliveries, while Chevrolet dropped to 15th as its sales fell 5% to 2,796. Year-to-date, Ford was down 3% at 9,380 units and Chevy off 4% at 6,840.

Kia’s Rio was the top-selling model for the month and the quarter, soaring 43.6% in March to 8,375 units and 28.6% for the three months at 21,101.

Lada’s Granta followed, up 50.9% at 7,817 units in March but still down 6.3% for the quarter at 17,701.

Hyundai’s Solaris and Lada’s Vesta split third-place honors: Solaris was third in March, down 12.8% at 6,699 units, but was fourth for the quarter, off 40.9% at 12,666, while Vesta was fourth in March, up 31.4% at 6,036 units, but up 65.6% to 15,225 in the quarter.

Chevrolet’s Niva dropped 5.6% in March for 11th place with 2,704 deliveries. This left it up 2.3% for the quarter at 6,605 units.