Russian car sales growth slows in March
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Sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles in Russia rose 13 percent year-on-year in March to 252,816, the Association for European Businesses (AEB) said.
The pace of growth was slower than the 25 percent rise seen in February.
The Moscow-based AEB forecasts an overall 12 percent rise in 2012 sales to 2.8 million, close to the pre-crisis mark of 2.9 million in 2008.
"The passenger car and light commercial vehicles market in Russia continued to show sustained growth in March though at a lower level than in the first two months of 2012,'' David Thomas, AEB chairman, said in a statement on Monday.
Lada continued to be Russia's top-selling brand in March with sales of 43,593, down 17 percent. Nissan is No. 2 with sales of 17,105, up 66 percent, followed at No. 3 by Hyundai, which sold 16,262 cars, up 30 percent.
Renault increased sales 17 percent to 15,524 to secure fourth place, ahead of General Motors Co.'s Chevrolet brand at No. 5 with 15,425, a rise of 11 percent.
GM's Opel brand also performed strongly with sales of 6,923, a rise of 39 percent. Sales of Ford vehicles rose 8 percent to 11,479.
In the first quarter, overall Russian sales increased by 19 percent to 614,273.
Reuters contributed to this report
Download PDF below for Russia sales by brand and automaker for March and first three months
You can reach David Jolley at djolley@crain.com.
