Sales of new passenger cars and LCVs in Russia decreased by 6.7% in May to nearly 138,000 vehicles, continuing a falling trend in 2019.
Among the top ten bestselling models so far, all models are locally produced In May 2019, sales fell by 6.7% compared to May, 2018 or by 9,901 sold units and amounted to 137,624 cars, according to the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee (AEB AMC).
“No good news from the automotive market in May, instead a nearly 7% drop in sales volume; the most noticeable year-on-year loss in over two years,” said AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee, Joerg Schreiber.
“Of course, it could be said the extraordinary warm weather this year is not helping retail sales as many people spend more time than usual away from the big cities and their shopping malls. The main reason of the current trend however remains a weaker retail demand, driven by macroeconomic factors such as rising household costs in the wake of the VAT increase earlier this year.
“Specifically automotive, we have a market still digesting a substantial reduction in government subsidies stimulating retail purchases in the past. We will have to see how these factors play out over time, but for now we are looking at a rather challenging environment.”
