Russia 2004: Lada Riva resists Samara assault, foreigners up 87% to 28% share

The Lada Samara misses out on the pole position for less than 1.000 sales.

* See the Top 45 All-brands and Top 275 All-models by clicking on the title *

New car sales in Russia surge 19.1% year-on-year in 2004 to smash their all-time volume record established just last year to 1.470.058 units. Once again this growth has almost all to do with foreign manufacturers: Russian brands edge up 4% to 1.058.177 sales and 72% vs. 82.2% last year while foreigners soar 87% to 411.881 units and 28% share vs. just 17.8% in 2003 and 9.8% in 2002. Lada (+3%) resists but drops 8 percentage points to 51.5% share, followed by GAZ (+18%) at 12.9% and UAZ (-2%) at 4.3%. Chevrolet (+152%) steps up two spots on last year to land in 4th place and #1 “foreigner” but this performance is thanks to the Russian-made Niva. Hyundai (+241%) does even better, gaining five ranks to #5, both carmakers overtaking IZH (-13%). Toyota (+73%), Ford (+91%), Daewoo (+75%) and Mitsubishi (+70%) round up the Top 10, all positing extravagant gains. Further down, Mazda (+433%), Nissan (+195%), Subaru (+188%) and Lexus (+150%) stand out.

The Chevrolet Niva is the first foreign-branded model to crack the Russian Top 10.

In 2004 the Lada Riva (+4%) remains the best-selling vehicle in Russia, but just: its advantage over the Lada Samara (+14%) has thawed to just 903 units vs. 20.653 in 2003, this due to the release of the 3-door Samara hatchback. Samara figures also include the 5-door hatchback, the sedan and 42,768 sales of the 1990 sedan version, still on sale in the country somehow. The Lada 2110 (+1%) remains in third place, crossing the 200.000 annual unit-mark, and the GAZ Gazelle (+18%) posts a very strong result but is stuck at #4. The GAZ Volga 3110 (+22%) also impresses, returning inside the Top 5 ahead of the Lada Oka (-1%). The Chevrolet Niva (a joint-venture between GM and AvtoVaz) is up 147% to become the first foreign-branded model to crack the annual Russian Top 10 at #7. It is joined by the Ford Focus (+73%) at #8 and the Daewoo Nexia (+72%) at #10.

Full Year 2004 Top 45 All-brands and Top 275 All-models below and Production figures below.