Sales of new cars in Russia in 2023 may increase by 30% due to increased production. This was announced by the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade Denis Manturov on the sidelines of the congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs.
“According to the automotive industry, this is fortune-telling on the coffee grounds when it is the beginning of the year. I can say that, of course, there will be more than last year. For obvious reasons, because we are increasing production while maintaining imports. Forecasts can be given a little later, but we said last month that it would be exactly 30% more than last year,” said Mr. Manturov (quoted by TASS).
The head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade noted that in the period from March to April 2022, there was a significant increase in the cost of cars. However, prices have now leveled off as the situation with logistics routes, supplies and production of components has stabilized.
“How can the price be reduced while both global and domestic inflation persists? At a minimum, at the level of prominflation, prices will always move forward. The question is how much,” Manturov explained.
According to the Association of European Businesses, sales of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in Russia fell by 62.1% in February, to almost 41.9 thousand units. According to the results of two months of 2023, the market amounted to almost 74.4 thousand cars. For the whole of 2022, 687.3 thousand cars were sold in Russia against 1.66 million cars in 2021.