The situation of this March, 2009 and 2015 was repeated in the Russian automobile market: sales of new passenger cars fell sharply by 63% compared to the first spring of 2021.
In total, 55.1 thousand cars were sold, the difference was 93.5 thousand. report Automobile Manufacturers Committee of the Association of European Enterprises (AEB) in Russia. For comparison, in February this year, dealers in the Russian Federation sold another 114 thousand cars.
March sales were the worst since April 2020, when dealers were forced to suspend or significantly reduce operations following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. That month, the Russians bought only 39,000 cars, and the AEB called it “black April.”
March was the worst first month of the last 15 years in terms of sales.
points out the analytical agency Avtostat.
AvtoVAZ continues to be the leader of the Russian automobile market with 12.3 thousand automobile sales, a decrease of 64 percent compared to last March. In second place is Kia, almost twice behind the Volga plant (6.3 thousand; -68%).
It is followed by Hyundai, Renault and Toyota, followed by GAZ, Skoda, Nissan, Volkswagen and UAZ in the top ten.
Alina Dzhus/socialbites.ca
Compared to March last year, sales decreased for all brands represented on the Russian market. The only exceptions were three companies: Chinese Exeed (63%), Japanese Isuzu (467%) and American brand Chevrolet (91%).
Lexus, Cadillac and Fiat experienced the biggest decrease in percentage.
For the second month in a row, the AEB does not publish a forecast about the future of the Russian car market in its reports.
Stocks continue until summer
Dealer center experts interviewed by socialbites.ca expect the situation in the market to worsen. Sellers say sales dynamics will continue to decline in the coming months, driven only by the ever-increasing shortage of vehicles. It is worth noting that not only shipments to dealers are stopped, but also local production is stopped, said Renat Tyukteev, director of Avilon Mercedes-Benz.
In the medium term, the vehicle shortage will continue for at least 4-5 months.
Now we can only say with certainty that so far there are no prerequisites for lowering prices, ”says Renat Tyukteev.
There is no decrease in customer traffic in auto galleries. In early March, buyers showed fervent interest, after which the dynamics gradually stabilized, and now demand for cars in Avilon is moderate, they say.
“On average, depending on the volume of business, it can be said that dealers have enough inventory for two to five months of trading. “The biggest automobile shortage on the market as a whole is now in the upper price segment,” he said.
Andrey Olkhovsky, CEO of Avtodom Group of Companies, says the drop in demand is due to Russian expectations that the cost of new cars will be adjusted downward. But the interlocutor believes that such hopes are nothing more than dreams of customers.
“Demand in April will drop to 70% compared to April last year,” Olkhovsky says.
Prices have already increased by 50-100% since the beginning of the year and will continue in the future as each participant in the production chain increases their margin share.
“For most brands, new cars will run out by the beginning of summer. “Under an optimistic scenario, deliveries will resume in the fall of 2022, in which case the deficit will remain until at least 2023,” says Andrey Terlyukevich, CEO of AvtoSpetsCentre.
However, these estimates are not valid for Chinese manufacturers as they will increase sales volumes. Some, such as Chery and Exeed, have already launched programs to support their customers, the source said.
when you heal
Auto expert Igor Morzharetto believes that, according to his predictions, this problem will be resolved by the summer, it is worth delaying the purchase of a new car until new supply chains appear. Korean and Chinese brands will not stop selling in Russia, but they will need time to develop new routes.
“New cars are sold at inflated prices, everything is quite expensive in the secondary market too. In this case, it is better to wait. If you already have a car, you need to take care of it, take care of it and value it, because it is unknown how long this wait will be, ”says Morgaretto in an interview with socialbites.ca.
About how to extend the life of a car, “socialbites.ca” said Previously.
Source: Gazeta
