Russia has posted 2019 sales down 2.3% with a further fall of 2.1% expected for 2020, confirming the country’s continuing industry travails.
News of last year’s 2.3% drop adds to a long-term trend of declining numbers, although there was at least a degree of optimism in December, 2019, which saw an increase of 2.3% in sales of new passenger cars and LCVs in Russia.
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Among the top ten bestselling models so far, all models are locally produced.
In December, 2019, sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles in Russia increased by 2.3 % compared with December, 2018 or by 3,995 sold units and amounted to 179,235 cars, according to the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee (AEB AMC).
However, full-year 2019 new car and LCV sales decreased by 2.3% or 41,059 units in comparison with the previous year. From January to December, 1,759,532 cars were sold.
“In a strong closing effort, December market sales improved by 2.3% year-on-year,” said AEB AMC chairman, Joerg Schreiber.
“Despite that, cumulative sales in the fourth quarter however, remained in negative territory showing a 3% drop compared to the same period one year ago. Full-year sales in 2019 reached 1.76m units – 41,000 units or 2.3% below the level of 2018.
“For the current year, we expect similarly challenging market circumstances. Full year sales in 2020 are anticipated at a level of 1.72m units, which would represent a further 2.1% decline from the market level reached in 2019.”
