In September 2023, more than half of the new passenger cars sold in Russia were imported from abroad, according to analytics specialist Avtostat. The data show that as autumn began, import vehicles accounted for 55 percent of all new car sales. A year earlier, in September 2022, the share stood at 28 percent, meaning imports nearly doubled in just twelve months.
The same period reveals a sharp drop in the market share held by locally assembled foreign cars. While they comprised about a third of sales in early autumn 2022, their presence shrank to around 11 percent in the same timeframe of 2023. This shift highlights a changing mix of domestic production versus foreign-branded imports within the Russian market.
Officials from the Ministry of Industry and Trade have noted a cautious outlook for the Russian auto sector. They projected a gradual recovery in demand, suggesting that annual sales could reach about 1.3 million vehicles in 2024. The ministry also outlined a longer-term view: by 2026, the market would align with the average annual sales seen between 2015 and 2021. They expect consistent growth at roughly one percent per year starting in 2027. If these projections hold, Russia could approach 1.8 million cars sold annually by 2030 and rise to around 1.9 million by 2035.
Earlier forecasts indicated that Russia would sell approximately 950 thousand new passenger cars in 2023, a figure that reflects the evolving dynamics of supply, demand, and the regulatory environment affecting the automotive sector.