Russian Market Off to Fast Start

New-vehicle sales took off like a space shot in Russia, soaring 20% from year-ago to 154,406 units in January.

The Association of European Businesses’ automobile manufacturers committee says all of January’s top-10 cars were produced in Russia.

Committee Chairman David Thomas says the 20% growth is an encouraging start to 2012 and supports the committee’s forecast of a 2.8 million-unit market this year.

“However, January is a very short trading month in which individual brand volumes are strongly affected by year-end stock levels,” Thomas says in a statement.

Committee data shows Lada remained the top-selling brand despite sales falling 21% to 29,034 vehicles.

Kia followed with deliveries up 38% to 11,009 units, ahead of Renault, which recorded a 40% gain to 10,909. Nissan posted a 57% increase to 10,780.

Chevrolet ended the month in sixth place with sales up 33% to 9,727 units, while Ford was ninth on an 80% jump to 6,541. The highlight for Ford was a 97% gain in Focus demand to 5,033 units, moving it into fifth place among individual models.

The AvtoVAZ-Renault-Nissan group ended January with sales down 1% to 51,410 units, while Volkswagen Group took second place, with deliveries up 75% to 16,336 units. General Motors placed third on a 36% hike to 14,262.

The Lada Kalina led all vehicle lines, up 1% to 8,532 units, outpacing the Lada Priora, sales of which fell 2% to 7,570.