Russia October 2013: Renault Duster & Lada Largus break records, Toyota Corolla in Top 20

The new generation pushes the Toyota Corolla to #17 this month.

* See the Top 25 best-selling models and Top 54 All-brands by clicking on the title! *

And it’s now been 8 months in a row of year-on-year decline for Russian new car sales, down 8% in October to 234,481 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 2,281,181 units, down 7% on 2012. For the first time since the start of its career in December 2011, the Lada Granta experiences a slight year-on-year drop at -6% to 13,357 units while the Hyundai Solaris and Kia Rio are virtually stable at -1% and 2% respectively. Now that production is starting to catch up with demand, the Renault Duster is back up to #4 and 3.3% share, scores it already reached in the past, but breaks its monthly volume record at 7,737 units. 2014 could see the Duster climb on the Russian podium…

The Renault Duster delivers its best-ever monthly volume in October.

The other model breaking records this month is the Lada Largus, at its ranking, volume and share best in 6th place with 5,765 sales and 2.5%, up 116% year-on-year. After two months in heaven, the Lada 4×4 (aka Niva) is slowly falling back to earth, down 1% to #7 and 2.3% in October, still above its year-to-date levels of #11 and 1.9%. The Lada Kalina is struggling to return to its previous glory in spite of the new generation now well established: it is down 58% on October 2012 to #9. The Renault Logan is up 23% to #10 even though the new generation is not on sale yet, but the big move in the ranking this month is the arrival of the Toyota Corolla at #17 with 3,535 sales and 1.5%, its first time in the Top 20 since August 2012, confirming my numerous sightings of the new generation across the country when I was there in September.

The new Range Rover pushes Land Rover sales up 40% this month in Russia.

Brand-wise, 3 of the 4 biggest year-on-year gains in the Top 30 this month are delivered by… surprise, surprise… Chinese manufacturers: Land Rover leads at +40% to #26, followed by Lifan up 36% to #22, Geely up 35% to #23 and Great Wall up 27% to #28. Lada loses a lot of ground at -25% and now accounts for exactly double the sales of (new owner) Renault, back to #2 at 7.9%. Kia is solid at 7.5% in third position, ahead of Hyundai at 6.7% (+8%), Chevrolet at 6.2% (-22%) and Toyota at 5.5% (+9%).

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Previous month: Russia September 2013: Lada 4×4 and Largus continue to progress

One year ago: Russia October 2012: Lada Granta #1, Renault Duster up to #7!

Full October 2013 Top 25 models and Top 54 All-brands Ranking Tables below.