The collapse of the automotive market in Russia – nearly no gross sales in Might

The war in Ukraine
The Russian car market on Earth

Wars rarely have victors – and Russian car dealers are certainly not among them. In Russia, the market for new cars almost completely collapsed in May.

After 100 days of war, the market for new Russian cars practically ceased to exist. As the Association of European Businesses (AEB) announced in its May balance sheet, new car sales figures are down 83.5 percent compared to pre-war in May 2021. However, BMW and Mercedes values ​​are missing in the monthly figures. Manufacturers now only provide quarterly reports.

While there were 147,378 new car buyers in May 2021, there were only 24,268 new registrations last month. Thus the development intensified, which was already evident in March (-62.9 percent) and April (-78.5 percent) as a result of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. In January and February, sales were still slightly higher (+4 percent).

There is no market recovery in sight

Unlike in the past, AEB now refrains from accompanying comments on numbers or giving an outlook on future developments. But given the sanctions stemming from the Russian war effort, it is hard to expect an improvement. Many brands are out of business or cannot produce due to missing parts.

Accordingly, the remaining sales figures of many foreign brands are likely to be primarily stocks. This decline affects both foreign and domestic manufacturers. Sales of market leader Lada, which has a market share of about 25 percent, fell 84 percent month-on-month to 6,000 units. Ownership of parent brand Renault, which has since been expropriated, is down 86 percent.

Domestic manufacturers move into the top ten

Volkswagen Group sells less: Volkswagen passenger cars reported a 94 percent drop in sales to 579 units, Skoda lost 92 percent to 805 units, Audi dropped 88 percent to 185 new cars in May, and Porsche increased 95 percent in May. cent 26 new registrations.

The situation is relatively better for the two domestic brands GAZ (-57 percent) and UAZ (-41 percent), which, with a decrease in the number of their registrations, suddenly put them in the top ten brands in Russia. This may also be due to the fact that these manufacturers produce relatively independently in Russia and less dependent on modern import technology.

According to press reports, Lada increasingly wants to produce older models with a Euro 2 level and without ABS. In addition, imported Chinese brands such as Geely (-55 per cent / 907) or Haval (-72 per cent / 892 units) suddenly made it to the top ten.

(No.: 48408165)