Dec 4 (Reuters) – Russia’s Soviet-era Moskvich car
entered the country’s list of top 10 best-selling brands for the
first time in November, data from Russian analytical agency
Autostat showed on Tuesday.
November sales of new passenger cars in Russia increased by
113% year on year to 109,706 vehicles, Autostat said, citing
data from its partner PPK. Sales are rebounding from a slump
caused by sanctions and the departure of Western carmakers in
2022.
Production of the Moskvich was relaunched this year at a
plant in Moscow. The Russian state purchased the factory from
Renault last year for a symbolic one rouble as the
French carmaker left the market after Moscow’s invasion of
Ukraine.
Sources have told Reuters that the Moskvich 3 model is a JAC
Sehol X4 assembled in Moscow using kits purchased from a Chinese
partner.
The Moskvich was ninth in the list of best-selling cars in
November, having sold 1,910 for a 1.7% share of the market. Over
the 11 months from January to November, 10,676 Moskvich cars
were sold, the data showed.
Lada, Russia’s most popular car, led the way in November
with 32,651 cars sold and a market share of 29.8%. Chinese cars
hold most of the other positions on the list, replacing
departing European and Japanese brands.
Chinese car sales appear to have peaked at more than 56% of
the market as Russia’s domestic production recovers after the
exodus of Western automakers, Autustat data shows.
According to Autostat, there were 939,254 new passenger cars
sold in Russia in the past 11 months, up almost 65% year on
year.
(Reporting by Gleb Stolyarov
Editing by Alexander Marrow and David Goodman)
