Russian Sales Off Rails Again in November

There’s no Christmas cheer on the horizon for Russian vehicle manufacturers, with November sales plummeting 42.7% to 131,572 units.

The Association of European Businesses’ Automotive Manufacturers Committee says the latest result left the year-to-date total down 34.5% at 1,454,253 units.

Committee Chairman Joerg Schreiber says the big monthly drop’s origins go back a year.

“The ruble was plummeting and customers were storming dealer showrooms to put their money to use before car prices caught up with the new exchange-rate reality,“ Schreiber says.

“None of this happened in November this year, which explains the relative deterioration in year-on-year performance of the market.”

He doesn’t expect much of a turnaround.

“The year is not over yet. However, expectations regarding December are rather modest, especially in comparison with the record sales achieved last year at the peak of a short-lived sales boom,” Schreiber says.

Lada, as usual, was the monthly sales leader despite a 29% slide to 21,580 units for an 11-month total off 30% at 245,634.

Hyundai overtook Kia and moved into second place as its November sales fell only 7% to 15,101 units, leaving it down 10% for the year thus far at 148,631. Kia dropped 32% for the month to 14,125 units and an 11-month total down 16% at 148,285.

Ford was Russia’s 11th-biggest brand, down 46% to 3,569 units and was down 40% at 38,797 after 11 months. Chevrolet was down to 13th place on a 71% tumble to 3,072 units for a year-to-date backslide of 58% to 46,399.

The AvtoVAZ-Renault-Nissan alliance had more red ink than the Kremlin, plunging 40.2% in November to 41,859 units. This left it down 31.4% for the year at 421,159 units.

Volkswagen Group, still looking for fresh air amid its global emissions scandal, slumped 34.1% to 14,874 deliveries in November, giving it an 11-month total down 36.8% at 149,309.

The General Motors group, en route to only a token presence in Russia, slumped 77.9% to 3,676 units for an 11-month total down 62.6% at 63,261. Apart from Chevrolet, Opel was off 92.1% to 473 units for an 11-month total down 72.5% at 15,927, while Cadillac, up 21.3% in November with 131 deliveries was down 19.9% for the year at 935.

Hyundai’s Solaris again was Russia’s best-selling model, up 13.1% in November to 11,462 but remained in second place year-to-date, ahead 1.3% at 205,509.

Lada’s Granta fell 14.4% for the month to 9,000 units, giving it an 11-month total down 22.1% at 108,653. Solaris needs to outsell Granta by only 2,145 units in December – less than its advantage last month – to snatch the annual sales crown.

Chevrolet’s Niva ranked eighth in November deliveries with 2,993 units, down 31% from like-2014. For the first 11 months, Niva was in 10th place, off 23.3% at 28,350 units.