The Automotive market in Russia

The Automotive market in Russia in August beats Germany to become the largest in Europe. It is reported by "Avtostat." The Russian new car market has grown by 15% from this time last year.

According to the agency, the German car market by the end of the last month of summer fell by 4.6 percent to reach 225.45 thousand units sold. In Russia the market rose to 241.5 thousand cars. The Association of European Businesses (AEB), in turn, evaluates the car market in Russia to be 258.8 thousand vehicles.

Third in Europe in terms of car sales, as reported by "AUTOSTAT" up to August is France. Its sales fell by 12.3 percent to 115.34 thousand vehicles. The fourth line is the British market (up 0.1 per cent to 59.4 thousand units), and the fifth - Italy (down 20.2 per cent to 56.44 thousand cars), which fell back to the level of sales in 1964.

As previously reported on BricPartner the highest selling cars in the Russian market are Lada, Hyundai, Daewoo, Volkswagen, Nissan, Chevrolet, Toyota, Renault, Ford and Skoda. The Czech brand Skoda in particular improved their performance by 68 percent to 8.3 thousand vehicles. The best selling brands in Russia in August are Lada and Chevrolet and the best selling foreign brands and models are the Hyundai Solaris and the Ford Focus.

In June 2012, the company BDW Automotive published forecast that Russia will take first place in Europe in sales of machines in 2014 (up to 3.42 million units). German car market, in turn, predicted stabilization at 3.2 million vehicles a year.

BMW could start manufacturing its Mini Cars in Russia MINI  The German company BMW is considering launching Mini car production in Russia. This was announced by the head of marketing and sales of the BMW Ian Robertson at the Moscow International Motor Show.

"With thousands of Mini sales in Russia, it is possible that we will produce them in Russia", - quotes Robertson. According to him, BMW sales in Russia in 2012 will be about 35,000 vehicles, more than in 2011 by 30%.

At the end of July in 2012 BMW started selling the new MINI Clubvan in Russia. The car is available in two versions. In particular, the new product can be purchased with a 1.6-liter engine with 98 hp and 122 hp Amount of luggage when folded back is 860 liters. The first delivery of cars is expected in September. MINI Clubvan is based on the Clubman and the car is the first model of the brand relevant to a segment of commercial vehicles.

Japanese auto parts companies are expanding into Russia to take advantage of the opening up of one of the world's fastest growing car markets.

Russia became a member of the World Trade Organization in August, and is planning to strengthen its car manufacturing and other domestic industries.

Daido Metal Co., a major auto parts supplier in Japan, plans to ship composite materials manufactured in its Russian plant in Europe to cope with the strong yen.

In 2007, Daido Metal purchased Russia’s largest bearing maker and established a subsidiary. The Russian subsidiary has been supplying bearings mainly to Avtovaz, Russia's largest automaker.

However, Daido Metal is now planning to produce bearings with improved quality for major foreign car manufacturers operating in Russia, and will upgrade its production equipment.

New vehicle sales in Russia from January to July this year totaled 1.67 million units, up 14 percent over the same period in 2011.

The Nissan-Renault alliance, Germany’s Volkswagen AG and General Motors Co. In the United States are also planning to increase automobile production in Russia.

The Russian government is encouraging companies to increase the percentage of local content in main auto parts, while local governments have been attracting foreign companies by offering tax breaks and other incentives.

Other Japanese companies are eyeing the Russian market.

Yazaki Corp. Purchased a Russian auto parts manufacturer in July, and Toyota Tsusho Corp., a trading company, is planning to supply auto parts to Avtovaz by 2014, in collaboration with Japanese parts makers.

With the average Russian factory worker in provincial areas earning about 50,000 yen ($637) a month, Japanese parts makers can lower production costs by increasing parts production in Russia.

“If parts makers get their production systems up and running, exports from Russia will possibly increase,” said Tetsuya Umezu, an official at the overseas research department of the Japan External Trade Organization.

A disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and BricPartner is not responsible for any errors.

Sources for part of this article: ajw.asahi.com ;

Sources for part of this article: ajw.asahi.com ;