Page 138 - RusRPTJul23

Russian automotive market. Despite the challenging economic conditions and uncertainties brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry has shown resilience and a strong rebound in recent months.
The CEO of Russian carmaker AvtoVAZ, Maxim Sokolov says sales in Russia’s car market could recover to 875,000 by the end of this year, clawing back much of the losses caused by the pull out of all the international producers based in Russia last year after the invasion of Ukraine.
The boss of the maker of the iconic Lada said that the market is not expected to exceed 875,000 vehicles this year, up from its previous estimate of 800,000 in 2023.
Sokolov emphasized the company's plans to restart production of the Lada Granta cars equipped with the anti-lock braking system (ABS) by the end of August. Additionally, AvtoVAZ is prepared to commence production of the Lada Aura premium cars in 2024, contingent on expanded government support for the domestic automotive industry.
To facilitate this production expansion, Sokolov called for government support of the manufacturing of highly-localized cars in Russia. AvtoVAZ has been advocating for mandatory sales through state procurements and proposed expanding the list to include leasing for civil servants, budget enterprise employees, and state corporations.
Sokolov also suggested that the government could incentivize the use of domestically manufactured vehicles by taxi services and car-sharing companies. By encouraging the adoption of locally made cars in these sectors, the government would further support the growth and sustainability of the Russian automotive industry.
As followed by bne IntelliNews, following Russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine, the production of cars in Russia almost completely ceased in the summer months as the sector ground to a screeching halt.
However, after the sector came to an almost total standstill last summer it has begun to steadily recover this year. The sales of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) in Russia more than doubled over the year to 51,466 units in May 2023, according to the latest report of the Association of European Businesses (AEB). (chart)
138 RUSSIA Country Report July 2023 www.intellinews.com