Russian New-Car Sales Tailspin Continues in August

The Russian new-vehicle sales slide gained momentum in August with deliveries plunging 25.8% year-on-year to 172,015 units.

The Association of European Businesses Automobile Manufacturers Committee says the result left the year-to-date total down 217,092 units to 1,582,713, a 12.1% decline.

“August was another difficult month for car sales, which hardly surprised anyone in the industry,” committee chairman Joerg Schreiber says in a statement.

The industry is hoping a recently announced government incentive for the scrappage and trade-in of used vehicles will break the market’s fall. “Whether this will be the case or not depends on how quickly the program will come into effect, so that market participants can finally make use of it,” Schreiber says.

With the Ukraine crisis continuing to boil, AEB earlier wrote to all 28 heads of state and governments of the European Union, as well as of Russia and Ukraine, asking for an end to trade sanctions, saying it has members with businesses in sectors that would be directly affected.

“The introduction of such measures could lead to a serious decline in production volume and the number of workplaces, affecting not only the manufacturers themselves, but also suppliers and retailers working in these sectors,” the AEB statement says.

“The AEB strongly requests EU and Russian authorities to protect foreign investors from both sides from any further retaliatory measures.”

Meantime, Lada continued to lead the Russian market despite a 32% plunge in August deliveries to 26,467 units. Kia followed, down 20% to 13,644, ahead of Hyundai, off just 6% to 13,416.

Through eight months of the year, Lada was down 18% to 247,289 units, ahead of Renault, off 10% to 124,028, and Kia, slipping 5% to 122,920.

With Washington leading the charge to punish Russia for its Ukraine adventure, U.S. automakers saw August sales evaporate.

Ford fell 57% to just 3,852 units, while Chevrolet tumbled 50% to 7,952. Year-to-date, Ford was down 43% to 39,670 units while Chevy was off 27% to 81,701.

The AvtoVAZ-Renault-Nissan group saw August sales slump 24.1% to 50,455 units for an 8-month total off 10.2% to 479,144. Volkswagen Group followed, retreating 22.6% to 19,009 units for a year-to-date tally down 12.0% to 173,615.

The General Motors group of Opel, Chevrolet and Cadillac fell 46.4% to just 12,340 units in August for a year-to-date result down 24.4% to 125,317.

Lada’s Granta was the best-selling model for the month and year-to-date with 11,860 units in August and an 8-month total of 95,154.