Russian Market Disappoints in January
February will be a better indicator of where the market is headed, industry officials say, holding to predictions of a more stable market in 2014.
Russian new-vehicle sales open the year weaker than expected, as deliveries drop 6% to 152,662 units in January, though the market still is expected to stabilize.
“January sales turned out weaker than many had hoped for,” Joerg Schreiber, chairman of the Association of European Businesses Automobile Manufacturers Committee, says in a statement. “(But it was) not a complete surprise, however, following a strong December which saw a pull-ahead of credit-backed sales due to the run-out of the government subsidy.”
Schreiber says January is small volume and therefore not a serious indicator of the year ahead.
“(The) February result will provide a better clue to where the market is headed this year,” he says. “(The) current pace of contracting is quite encouraging all around, so we maintain our short-term expectation for the market to stabilize.”
The leading-seller Lada brand fell 21% to 23,647 units, but still almost doubled second-place Renault’s volume, down 13% to 12,894. Kia followed, up 1% to 11,199 vehicles.
The AvtoVAZ-Renault-Nissan grouping started the year down 12% to 48,063 units, but was comfortably ahead of the VW Group, off 7% to 15,987.
General Motors followed, dropping 7% to 13,781 units. Sales for its Opel brand dipped 18% to 4,281 units, while Chevrolet deliveries fell 1% to 9,420 and Cadillac slumped 9% to 80.
Lada’s Granta was the month’s best-selling model, despite declining 22% to 8,255 units.
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