In April 2020, car dealers in the Russian Federation did not work: in late March, President Vladimir Putin announced that it was better for everyone to stay at home and go out only if absolutely necessary. Not everyone allowed to carry out labor activity: car dealers were not included in the list. Recall that such measures were designed to reduce the dynamics of the spread of coronavirus in the country. This, of course, negatively affected the entire economy of the country, including the automotive industry. So we have what we have: a decrease of 72.4% (data on dealer shipments are indicated) compared to April 2019 and by 76% compared to the previous month (a “plus” was recorded in March).
According to a recent report by the Association of European Businesses (AEB), for the so-called “black April” of 2020, 38,922 new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles were sold, which is 102,089 less than a year earlier. According to Chairman of the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee Thomas Shtärzel, last month seriously hit the liquidity of car dealers, and later on their stability (probably not all market players will survive in the current conditions). Despite the weakening of the self-isolation regime in May, Thomas Stärzel is not inclined to think that the sales figures for new cars will be noticeably higher this month.
And the reasons are obvious: some automakers have already raised the price of cars, others are likely to rewrite price tags in the near future. Against this background, part of the Russians have already lost their income due to the pandemic and the regime of self-isolation, some have faced a decrease in salaries, still others will not decide on an expensive purchase because of uncertainty about tomorrow, etc. So the prospects for the Russian car market, indeed, are not at all bright.
Despite all this, let us look at the results of those who, at the very least, were engaged in the sale of new cars even during the “black April”. There is nothing surprising in the fact that the absolute majority of brands and all models from the TOP 25 most popular (except for beginners) have a “minus”. It is not strange that the arrangement of places in both ratings has changed.
True, this does not apply to the leader of the list of the most sought-after brands – Lada. The domestic brand still possesses gold, despite the loss of 71% with a result of 9396 cars sold. Its bestsellers, Granta and Vesta, still top the top 25 best-selling cars in crisis Russia. Their indicators are 3058 pcs. (-75.8%) and 2913 pcs. (-71.2%), respectively. By the way, other models of the brand last month managed to rise higher than in March. So, Largus changed the 8th place to the 6th, the 4×4 SUV climbed from the 16th line immediately to the 7th, and the gradually losing Xray is now at 18th position, and not at 23rd.
| A place | Mark | Sales in April 2020, units | Sales in April 2019, pcs. | Difference% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lada | 9396 | 32,316 | -71 |
| 2 | Kia | 4334 | 19,819 | -78 |
| 3 | Renault | 3135 | 12 543 | -75 |
| 4 | Volkswagen | 3093 | 9551 | -68 |
| 5 | Skoda | 3041 | 7359 | -59 |
| 6 | Toyota | 2565 | 8466 | -70 |
| 7 | Hyundai | 2426 | 15379 | -84 |
| 8 | GAS | 2272 | 5424 | -58 |
| 9 | Nissan | 1039 | 2528 | -59 |
| 10 | UAZ | 862 | 3445 | -75 |
Second place in the ranking of brands kept the Korean Kia. Its April result was 4,334 new cars sold (78% less). As in March, on the third line of the TOP-25 is the best-selling Kia – Rio (1737 units), which has lost 79.6% (compared with April 2019). Also on the list is the Sportage crossover, which rose from the 20th to the 12th line in a month. Its result is 762 pcs. and this corresponds to a 71.8% decline in sales. A new from Kia in the ranking (at 24th place) was the compact Seltos SUV with an indicator of 535 pcs.
Renault is on the third place in the list of the best-selling brands with 3135 cars (-75%), although in March Hyundai closed the top three. The most popular Renault model even in times of crisis remains the Cross Duster (975 units, -73.1%), and it managed to get into the top ten, “jumping” from 11th to 9th position. Logan sedan remained on the previous 13 line, but the Sandero hatchback fell from 15th to 22nd place in a month. At the very bottom of the TOP, on the 25th line, Kaptur is located, but Arkana was not allowed on the list (the last time the model was in the rating of cars in December 2019).
On the fourth line in the list of brands is Volkswagen with a result of 3093 pcs. (-68%). The bestsellers of the German brand – Polo and Tiguan – are now located at 4 and 5 positions, respectively (1372 and 1332 pcs.). By the way, the VW crossover displaced the Hyundai Creta from the seat on the leader of the ranking of the most popular SUVs (the Korean SUV of the St. Petersburg assembly was at the head of the “crossover TOP” from August 2016)!
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Next in the ranking of brands is Skoda (the Czech brand belongs to the Volkswagen concern). Its April result was 3041 cars, which is 59% less than a year earlier. Four Skoda models entered the TOP 25: Octavia closes the top ten (820 units, -59.8%), followed by Kodiaq (810 units), which jumped 11 lines in one month. On 14th place is the brand’s new – Karoq SUV with a result of 754 units, and Rapid (622 units) on the former 17th.
On the sixth line in the ranking of brands is Toyota, which sold 2565 cars in our market in April 2020 (70% less than in the same month of 2019). Back in March, the RAV4 crossover occupied the 6th place in the TOP 25 of the best-selling cars, but now it has rolled down to the 20th (601 units, -73.1%). In turn, the Camry business sedan lost only 4 positions, stopping at 16th (649 units, -75.2%). At the same time, the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado (578 units, -57.2%) returned to the April bestseller list. The last time this SUV was in the ranking in September 2019.
Next is Hyundai, which has fallen from the 3rd place on the list of popular brands (2426 units, -84%). As we have already noted, his best-seller Creta has lost leadership in the SUV ranking, he also has a result of 1079 pcs. (-82.4%) went down from the 4th line to the 8th. Solaris is even worse off: instead of March 7th, it ended up in 19th place (603 units, -88.4%). Note that last month the Tucson crossover disappeared from the rating (in March it occupied the 25th position).
| A place | Model | Sales in April 2020, units | Sales in April 2019, pcs. | Difference% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lada granta | 3058 | 12652 | -75.8 |
| 2 | Lada vesta | 2913 | 10131 | -71.2 |
| 3 | Kia rio | 1737 | 8509 | -79.6 |
| 4 | Vw polo | 1372 | 5665 | -75.8 |
| 5 | Vw tiguan | 1332 | 2847 | -53.2 |
| 6 | Lada largus | 1286 | 3646 | -64.7 |
| 7 | Lada 4×4 | 1093 | 2658 | -58.9 |
| 8 | Hyundai creta | 1079 | 6123 | -82.4 |
| 9 | Renault Duster | 975 | 3620 | -73.1 |
| 10 | Skoda octavia | 820 | 2042 | -59.8 |
| eleven | Skoda kodiaq | 810 | 1964 | -58.8 |
| 12 | Kia sportage | 762 | 2704 | -71.8 |
| thirteen | Renault Logan | 760 | 3204 | -76.3 |
| 14 | Skoda karoq | 754 | – | – |
| fifteen | Avtovaz niva | 659 | – | – |
| sixteen | Toyota Camry | 649 | 2614 | -75.2 |
| 17 | Skoda rapid | 622 | 3261 | -80.9 |
| eighteen | Lada xray | 615 | 2284 | -73.1 |
| nineteen | Hyundai Solaris | 603 | 5192 | -88.4 |
| twenty | Toyota RAV4 | 601 | 2235 | -73.1 |
| 21 | Mazda CX-5 | 581 | 1452 | -60.0 |
| 22 | Renault Sandero | 578 | 3263 | -82.3 |
| 23 | Toyota LC Prado | 578 | 1352 | -57.2 |
| 24 | Kia seltos | 535 | – | – |
| 25 | Renault Kaptur | 428 | 2288 | -81.3 |
In addition, the TOP 25 included the Niva SUV (659 units), which is now considered a novelty, since Avtovaz is in the place of the brand. If we compare current sales with last year’s Chevrolet Niva, it becomes clear that the model has lost 64.4%. Also according to the results of last month, the Mazda CX-5 crossover is listed (581 units, -60%). At the same time, the Japanese brand is on the 11th line of the list of the most demanded brands in the Russian Federation (739 units, -67%).
It is curious that in the April ranking of brands there is only one “plus”: the Chinese brand Changan (223 units) boasts a 53 percent increase. True, this can easily be explained by low sales in April 2019 – then the brand’s dealers sold only 146 cars in Russia.
From the list of the most popular models (compared to March 2020), several crossovers disappeared, in addition to the already mentioned Hyundai Tucson, these are the Mitsubishi Outlander (in the previous rating was in 19th place), Nissan Qashqai (was in 10th) and X-Trail (was on the 21st).
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Judging by AEB data, in the first third of 2020, dealers sold a total of 415 102 new cars and light commercial vehicles, which is 19.1% less than in January-April last year.
The coronavirus pandemic affected the sale of cars not only in Russia but also around the world. So, for example, in April 2020, not a single car was sold in India. In China, the main bans were in effect in February, so that according to the results of the last winter month, the Celestial car market fell by 79%. In March, car dealerships in this country opened, however, sales still remained low – an annual decline of 43% was recorded. However, in April, a “plus” was recorded (4.4% more than in April 2019). In turn, the Western European market in March (then there was a virus outbreak in this region) fell by 52.9%, while dealers in the United States sold 39% less cars in the same month.
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