BRUSSELS – The war in Ukraine and sanctions imposed on Russia will have a strong impact on Lexus, which generated about 30 percent of sales in its Europe region in those two countries, with Russia its largest European market overall.
Lexus and parent company Toyota Motor include Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and a number of other non-EU countries in the Europe region. Lexus said it sold 72,441 units in the region in 2021, of which 19,638 were in Russia and 1,881 in Ukraine.
Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February, many foreign automakers halted sales and production in Russia. Toyota said on March 2 that it would halt production at its Russian factory, while also indefinitely stopping vehicle imports into the country.
“We stopped deliveries as the sanctions stepped in, so the products that were already in Russia are the sales we can count on this year,” Lexus Europe head Spiros Fortinos told Automotive News Europe on Tuesday at a press event in Brussels.
Through April, Lexus sold 1,738 vehicles in Russia, a decline of 76 percent, according to Russian trade group AEB. Total European region total sales stood at 17,142 units through April, Lexus said.