Alexey Kalitsev, chairman of the Automobile Manufacturers Committee of the Association of European Businesses (AEB), said at the annual convention of the Association of Russian Automobile Dealers that passenger car sales in Russia could collapse by 50% this year.
I think there will be clarity on supply in the next quarter. I don’t expect much improvement during the second quarter. The second quarter will be a period of overcoming all the issues that are there. And if we have a positive scenario, we will start producing, the market this year could be 0.8-0.85 million cars. That’s essentially a drop of the very 50%. If this resumption of production is later than the third quarter, the market will be even smaller
In other words, a twofold drop in sales is a positive scenario, implying that the production of cars in Russia will soon resume. If this does not happen soon, the market will collapse even more.
By comparison, last year the market for cars and LCVs (light commercial vehicles) in Russia was 1.67 million units, up 4.3% from 2020 results.