AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)08/07 Report--

According to data released by the Russian European Enterprise Association (AEB), sales of passenger and light commercial vehicles in Russia fell 74.9 per cent year on year to 32412 in July 2022, a decrease of 94819 compared with July last year. From January to July this year, Russian car sales were only 368900, down 69.5% from the same period last year.

In fact, since the situation in Russia and Ukraine, monthly car sales in Russia have fallen sharply compared with the same period last year, and car sales in some months have even reached the lowest level since 1991. The impact of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, including Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Toyota, Nissan and other car companies, suspended production in Russia, while some car companies stopped exporting cars to Russia. The auto industry is concerned that restrictions on exports and withdrawal from the Russian market by car companies such as Europe, the United States and Japan are the key reasons for the sharp decline in Russian car sales. According to statistics, Russian cars fell 62.9% in March from a year earlier, 78.5% in April, 83.5% in May and 82% in June. By contrast, although Russian car sales were still in a downward trend in July, the decline picked up somewhat.

In terms of brands, although Russian car sales fell significantly, the top three brands in July were relatively stable. Russian veteran manufacturer Lada remained the highest-selling brand, with 10400 vehicles sold in July, followed by Korean brands. Kia and Hyundai sold 4004 and 3397 respectively.

As for French carmaker Renault, although it used to be the largest car brand by sales in Russia, it has gradually lost market share because it has withdrawn from the Russian market. Renault ranked seventh with sales of 1780 vehicles in July. On March 23 this year, Renault issued a statement suspending all activities at its Russian plant in Moscow. In its statement, the Renault Group stressed that the suspension of all activities at the Russian plant in Moscow had taken the necessary measures to comply with international sanctions. Renault said it was evaluating the options for its Russian joint venture, Avtovaz, and would be accountable to 45000 Russian employees. Due to sanctions, revenue, sales loss and other considerations, Renault Group announced on May 16 that it would sell all its assets in Russia, selling its 100% stake in Renault Russia to the Moscow municipal government, and its stake in AvtoVAZ to the Russian State Automotive Engineering Research Institute (NAMI), which means that Renault Group will withdraw from Russia completely, data show. Renault's cumulative sales in Russia in the first half of this year were 28246, down 59.7% from a year earlier.

By contrast, the sales share of Chinese car brands in the Russian market is growing rapidly. According to Autostat, a Russian auto market analyst, the latest Russian car sales figures show that Chinese brands accounted for 24% of the Russian auto market in July, and Chinese brands overtook South Korean brands to occupy the second place in the Russian new car sales market for the first time. For reference, South Korean brands accounted for 21.2 per cent of sales in July, while local Russian car brands ranked first accounted for 30.9 per cent.

Russian car sales have been declining in recent months, but the share of Chinese-branded cars in the Russian market has grown significantly since April. The market share of Chinese brands remained at around 9.5% in the first quarter of this year (January-March), and began to increase sharply in the second quarter, including 12.6% in April, 16.9% in May, 21% in June and 24.3% in July. In terms of segmentation, Chinese-branded cars sold 8600 vehicles in the Russian car market in July, mostly from Chery, Geely, Harvard and Xingtu, with July sales of 2577, 2323, 2155 and 1012, respectively. Chery and Geely ranked in the top five, Harvard ranked sixth, while the rest sold fewer than 200. according to the sales announced in July, one out of every four new cars sold came from Chinese brands.

Overall, South Korea's Kia and Hyundai still maintain a certain market share, while European brands such as Renault, Volkswagen and Skoda gradually lose market share. At the beginning of this year, Avtostat pointed out that some car companies operating in Russia (Nissan, Toyota, Kia, Hyundai) were forced to close their production lines in Russia due to sanctions imposed by Europe and the United States, thus further aggravating the shortage of cars in the Russian market. As a rigid demand for cars, Chinese car sales in Russia will continue to grow for a long time.

It is understood that the Russian car factory has a total production capacity of more than 2 million vehicles, and originally planned to produce about 1.5 million vehicles this year, but affected by parts shortages and European and American sanctions, AFS said that Russian car production is expected to lose 760000 to 815000 vehicles this year and the loss is "irreparable."

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