Russia’s January 2023 Car Market: Sales Slump Amid Strong Chinese Model Presence
January 2023 brought a sharp downturn in new passenger car sales in Russia, with a drop of 63.1% from January 2022, a statistic reported by the Association of European Businesses in Russia. Despite the overall decline, eight Chinese car models joined the list of the ten most popular vehicles for the month, underscoring a notable shift in buyer preference toward Chinese brands.
The market’s headline figures show a modest month-over-month gain in sales volume. Total sales rose by 55.5 thousand units, reaching 32.5 thousand cars in January, according to AEB. This pattern resembles early 2022 activity, while December of the preceding year recorded 64.1 thousand car sales, highlighting January’s unusually weak start in comparison with year-end performance.
Lada continued to lead brand sales in January, moving 17.5 thousand units, a 3% decrease from January of the previous year. The top tier of brands was dominated by Chinese manufacturers: Haval posted 4.5 thousand units, up 43% year over year, and Geely delivered 3.5 thousand units, an increase of 88%.
Rounding out the top five were GAZ and Kia, with UAZ ranking sixth and surpassing the 1,000-vehicle mark for the first time in the month. Also appearing in the top ten were models from Changan, Great Wall, Skoda, and Volkswagen, illustrating a broad mix of domestic and international offerings in demand.
In terms of model-level popularity, the front runners were Lada Granta and Lada Niva. The remainder of the top ten largely consisted of Chinese models, including Geely Coolray, Haval Jolion, Geely Atlas Pro, Haval F7 and F7x, Haval H9, Geely Tugella, and Haval Dargo, reflecting the strong appeal of Chinese marques in the local market during the period.
Looking at the broader picture for 2022, current AEB statistics indicate a substantial contraction in new-car sales. Market observers anticipate that 2023 could show improvement, yet dealers note that this round of market stress has a distinct and more complex set of challenges compared with previous downturns. For a deeper dive into the drivers behind these trends, see the detailed report from socialbites.ca.