OREANDA-NEWS Demand for passenger cars intensified in February: sales exceeded 100,000, increasing by 85% year-on-year and returning to the level of summer 2023. Market participants believe that the sale was dispersed by the availability of discounts and promotions while expanding the offer of models available for purchase in the Russian Federation. Also, analysts say, customers were in a hurry to buy a car against the background of the upcoming rise in the cost of importing cars from the EAEU countries.

In February, 103.95 thousand new passenger cars were sold in the Russian Federation, Avtostat calculated based on data from JSC PPK (JV Autostat and Electronic Passport). This is 85.1% more than in February 2023, and 29.5% higher than the January result. Sales in January are traditionally lower due to the long holidays.

According to the results of two months, the passenger car market grew by 81.7%, to 184.2 thousand units, according to Autostat data.

The February result turned out to be quite high for the current car market: sales of new cars after the beginning of the crisis gradually increased during 2023, and October became the peak (112.3 thousand cars), after which demand began to weaken, showing only the traditional New Year's peak in December (119.5 thousand units). The result of February is close to August 2023, when 109.7 thousand new passenger cars were sold, and slightly higher than the result of July (95.7 thousand).

Lada remains the market leader in February with a share of 28% (against more than 38% a year earlier). Sales of the brand increased by 33%, to 28.7 thousand units. AvtoVAZ, using data from its own dealers, estimated sales slightly lower — 27.9 thousand (an increase of 19%).

Geely became the bestseller among foreign cars for the first time, Autostat states. The brand increased sales by 3.8 times, to 12.3 thousand units.

Chinese brands also occupy the remaining places in the top 5. Thus, Haval increased sales by 2.4 times, to almost 12 thousand cars, Chery — by 45%, to 9.9 thousand units, Changan — by 12.7 times, to almost 6 thousand cars. The latter brand showed the highest growth due to a low base. In the model rating, however, the Haval Jolion (5 thousand cars) will remain the leader among foreign cars, and the most popular car on the market is the most budget model of AVTOVAZ Lada Granta (13.1 thousand units).