Industry Searches for Hope for Ailing Russian Market

New-car sales in Russia dropped 18% year-on-year to 113,749 units after falling 16.6% in July, according to an industry group struggling to favorably spin a long skein of dismal statistics.

Chairman Joerg Schreiber of the Association of European Businesses’ Automobile Manufacturers Committee says August volume was unable to break the downward trend in year-on-year sales dynamics seen in recent months.

“We need to bear in mind, however, that last year’s volume base was propped up by currency fluctuations prompting customers to pull ahead the purchase of their car,” Schreiber says in a statement.

“This did not happen this year – bad for the (August) statistics, but a good thing for sales in the coming months as customer demand won’t be distorted by this factor.”

Schreiber also notes for the time being, overall sales have stopped falling below the lowest-ever levels reached in 2009. “Chances are strong that this story will continue in September,” he says.

The August result left the year-to-date tally down 14.9% at 895,357 units.

Lada continued to lead the Russian market with August sales up 4% at 20,908 units, ahead of Hyundai, down 5% at 11,902 and Kia, off 17% at 11,703.

After eight months, Lada was down 8% at 167,015 units, while Kia was in second place, down 10% at 93,310, and Hyundai was third, off 17% at 87,038.

Ford was the 11^th-biggest seller last month, down 24% at 3,432 units for an 8-month total off 26% at 27,416. Chevrolet ranked 13^th with a 58% year-on-year slump to 2,813 units and a year-to-date total down 43% at 20,173.

The AvtoVAZ-Renault-Nissan group saw August sales slip 7.2% to 37,152 units for an 8-month total off 14.6% at 297,666.

Volkswagen Group deliveries dropped 4.3% in August to 12,889 units and were off 5.6% after eight months at 99,853.

Kia’s Rio was the top-selling model in August, despite a 20.1% skid to 7,178 units. Hyundai’s Solaris followed, down 40.7% at 6,270 units, ahead of Lada’s Granta, off 39.3% at 5,506.

After eight months, the Solaris led the market, down 19.4% at 60,104 units. Granta followed at 31.7% on 55,807 sales, ahead of the Rio, down 10.8% at 54,264.

Chevrolet’s Niva was the top-selling American model, in eighth place and down 9.5% at 2,768 units. The Niva also was eighth year-to-date, up 1.9% at 19,853.