Russian market evolution in Q1-2023 (PC+LUV)
- The Russian market for light vehicles (PC+LUV) began to collapse from March 2022, just after the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine. It fell from an average of 140,000 units every month (figures for the last quarter of 2021 and January 2022) to less than 40,000 units in March 2022. It then stabilized at a low level (around 40,000 monthly units). It results to drop of 58.8% over the whole 2022 year compared to 2021. In the first quarter of 2023 the figures remain similar to the last quarter of 2022 (which translates into a drop of 58.7% compared to the first quarter of 2022). From April to December 2023 the registration figures will probably be comparable to the registration figures recorded between April 2022 and December 2022 (around 40,000 - 50,000 units per month).
- The market collapse is mainly due to the exodus of European, American, Japanese and then Korean carmakers. Russian carmakers (AvtoVAZ, GAZ, UAZ) held up quite well despite the economic sanctions that could have be impacted the production of components from abroad.
- The new fact is that it is the Chinese carmakers who have rushed into the breach, replacing European, American, Japanese and then Korean carmakers at short notice. Chinese carmakers have thus managed to take 42% of the Russian market in the first quarter of 2023, against less than 10% in the first quarter of 2022. They even progress in volumes in a much smaller market. They now represent a sales volume equivalent to AvtoVAZ, the traditionally most popular brand in Russia, i.e. 64,432 units in the first quarter of 2023 compared to 24,734 units in Q1-2022 and 18 981 in Q1-2021.