According to Reuters, on March 6, data released by Russian auto analysis agency Autostat showed that in February this year, sales of new passenger cars in Russia fell 24.9% year-on-year to 77,300 units, the first monthly sales decline since April 2023.
Before this, Russian auto market sales have maintained year-on-year growth trend for 22 consecutive months. However, in 2022, affected by the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Western auto manufacturers, including Renault Group and Volkswagen Group, withdrew from the Russian market, and sales in the Russian auto market shrank sharply.
The Russian automobile market ushered in a significant recovery in 2024. Industrial production data for 2024 released by the Russian Federation’s National Bureau of Statistics (Rosstat) shows that Russian automakers produced a total of 985,400 cars last year, a year-on-year increase of 16.5%. At the same time, Autostat data shows that Russia’s new passenger car sales increased by 48.4% year-on-year to 1.571 million units in 2024.
However, the growth momentum of sales in the Russian auto market began to slow down at the end of last year. Autostat expects that by 2025, Russian auto market sales will drop by “10% to 20%. The European Business Association predicts that due to high interest rates and sanctions, Russian auto market sales will fall by 15% year-on-year in 2025.
It is worth noting that Chinese automakers’ share in the Russian auto market has increased significantly from “less than 10%” to “more than 50%. Among the top ten cars in Russia, except for the Russian auto market leader and the largest automaker of Russia, Avtovaz, the rest are Chinese brands.
It is reported that in February this year, Avtovaz’s car sales fell 14.3% year-on-year to 24,573 units. In contrast, in 2024, Avtovaz’s car sales increased by 34.4% year-on-year to 436,155 units, accounting for 28% of the Russian auto market. Meanwhile, Avtovaz produced a total of 525,500 cars last year.
In 2024, Russia restarted several previously closed car factories, and the output of domestic car factories in Russia also increased. In addition to the restart of automobile factories, in 2024, automakers in Russia have also begun to produce new models. In 2025, more new models are expected to be launched in the Russian automobile market. Currently, the Russian automobile manufacturing industry is committed to shifting production more to localized business models.