Russian new car market halves during 2009

Russian new car buyers stayed away from showrooms in large numbers during 2009, with sales volumes almost halving in 2009, according to the latest market analysis from the world’s leading provider of automotive data and intelligence, JATO Dynamics.

In line with sales forecasts, which suggested less than 1.5 million sales, every new car segment shrank over the year, with the top five brands – Lada, Chevrolet, Ford, Hyundai and Renault – all losing ground vs. their 2008 sales.

Kia was the only high volume brand to show any improvement, increasing sales in most car sectors through its Rio, Sportage, Cerato, Carens, Picanto, Magentis, and new Soul models and posting a small second half sales gain in 2009.

Evangelos Hadjistavrou, Regional General Manager, JATO Dynamics, said: “The situation in Russia is very serious, perhaps the worst in any major market.  The market dropped by over 1.3 million vehicles last year, in contrast to the growth of recent times. The most interesting part is these losses could have been even greater, but for action by the Russian government.”

Over the year, Russian authorities increased support loans to customers of any new Russian-built cars costing less than 600,000 RUR (EUR 13,500; £11,700). A further scrappage incentive has been announced for 2010, of 50,000 RUR (EUR 1,125; £975), in an attempt to arrest the decline.

Brand Performance
Despite these domestic-product incentives, Kia was the only high-volume brand showing any improvement, with a 3.4% overall rise in the second half of the year, very much against the general trend. 

Lada remained the strongest brand in sales volumes, taking 26% total market share.