The UK new car market during 2009 might have found conditions tough with the government backed scrappage scheme providing a much needed boost in the second half of the year to the embattled carmakers but spare a thought of those manufacturers trying sell cars in Russia through out 2009, as new car sales crash to around half of their 2008 level!
According to the latest market analysis from the world’s leading provider of automotive data and intelligence, JATO Dynamics new car sales fell 49.8%, with market leading manufacturer Lada selling 285,888 fewer years during 2009!
In fact only Korean manufacturer Kia saw any improvement in the big volume sales area, 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.
