Carmakers operating in Russia are reporting healthy sales as consumer confidence grows, according to Moscow media outlets.
Russian car sales for the first seven months of this year are up 9% on 2009 to 963,688, although this is still 45% below 2008 levels.
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The Russian administration believes it will see an auto industry volume increase during this year to around 1.7m units, but reports cite General Motors’ European unit Opel noting Russians could buy up to 1.9m cars in 2010, while Nissan said it could go as high as 2m.
“It was a pretty bold collapse last year but we are confident the Russian market can again top 3m,” Opel vice president sales and marketing Alain Visser was quoted as saying. “Not next year but in the medium term,” he added at at the motor show in Moscow.
The head of Nissan’s Russia unit, Francois Goupil de Bouille is also cited as noting the manufacturer had throught it might sell 75,000 units in Russia this year, but now sees sales doubling from their 2009 position to 100,000.
