Russia’s car market continued its slump in June in the wake of the effects of the ongoing crisis in neighbouring Ukraine and a worsening of consumer and business confidence in Russia.
The Moscow-based AEB said that sales of new passenger cars and LCVs in Russia dropped by 17.3% in June to 199,398 units.
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The AEB said that the “market continues its downward trend at an accelerating pace”.
In the first half of the year, light vehicle sales declined by 7.6% versus last year to stand at 1,229,839 unit sales. Second quarter sales were down by 12.4% versus last year.
Joerg Schreiber, Chairman of the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee, said that the Russian car market has not reached bottom yet.
Sales volume in the 2nd half of 2014 is expected by the AEB to reach a level of 1.2m units, some 16% down on last year.
The AEB also adjusted its 2014 full year forecast for the Russian light vehicle market to 2.45m units, which would constitute a 12% decline on 2013.
Speaking to just-auto in May, AvtoVAZ boss Bo Andersson said that the Russian car market could take two years to recover from the effects of the setback induced by the currently slowing Russian economy.
