Kazakhstan October 2014: Grey Russian imports trigger 13% loss

Chevrolet Cobalt

* See the Top 25 models and Top 40 brands by clicking on the title, courtesy of www.akab.kz *

It is now official: the Kazakh new car market has gone from being one of the fastest-growing in the world in 2013 to full-on crisis now at -13% year-on-year in October to 14,825 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 133,888 deliveries, up just 0.5% on 2013. The reason? Russia. The depreciation of the Russian Ruble and an open borders policy in place since July this year have made grey Russian imports very profitable, resulting in a total of 190,000 new cars imported from Russia into Kazakhstan so far this year. Add to this 50,000 imports from other countries and a local production of 30,000 and you obtain 270,000 deliveries, double the official figures. Therefore local organisation AKAB estimates half of the Kazakh new car market is now ‘grey’, saying “Authorised dealers have lost the battle with the grey market”.

Russian Daewoo Nexia

Brand-wise, Lada remains on top by far with 27.9% of the official market in October, above Kia (10.2%), Toyota (9%), Hyundai (8.9%) and UZ-Daewoo (8.7%) while Chevrolet loses ground at 6.2% vs. 7.4% YTD. Notice Chinese manufacturers FAW (#16), Geely (#17) and MG (#30) making a discreet appearance in the ranking. The Lada Priora is the most popular nameplate in the country once again with a particularly strong 12.3% market share this month, followed by the Lada Granta, Hyundai Accent and Kia Rio. The Daewoo Nexia is down 41% YOY but back inside the Kazakh Top 5 for the first time since November 2013. The Toyota Camry is up 53% to #8, the Skoda Rapid up 57% to #11, the Chevrolet Cobalt is up a further two spots on September to a best-ever #12 and the Nissan Almera Classic ranks #14.

Previous month: Kazakhstan September 2014: Chevrolet Cobalt in progress

One year ago: Kazakhstan October 2013: Renault Duster in Top 10

Full October 2014 Top 25 models and Top 40 brands Ranking Tables below.