Russia’s car market gutted as recession looms
by The Associated Press
March vehicle sales were down 42.5 per cent year-over-year
MOSCOW—Russia’s car market continues its plunge as the country heads for recession, with sales down 42.5 per cent annually in March and 36.3 per cent for the first quarter as a whole.
Sales in March fell to 139,850 cars from 243,332 in the same month a year earlier, according to the Moscow-based Association of European Businesses.
All of the top 10 car models sold in March are produced in Russia after the plunge in the ruble last year made imports expensive.
U.S. companies are among those whose sales fell most sharply, with Ford down 73 per cent.
General Motors said last month it would pull its Opel brand out of Russia entirely by the end of the year and mothball its St. Petersburg factory, while also slashing Russia-based production of the Chevrolet brand.
