Russia July 2015: Hyundai Solaris & Kia Rio take root above all Ladas

August 12, 2015
Matt Gasnier

The Hyundai Solaris tops Russian sales charts for the third time this year already.

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After dropping by 36% over the First Half, Russian new car sales slow their freefall somewhat in July at -27% to 131.087 registrations, however this is just the mechanical effect of an already very low base a year ago. The year-to-date total is now down 35% or 500.000 units to 913.181 deliveries. According to Russian organisation AEB, “purchase incentives provided through government programs and by the market participants themselves have proven instrumental in avoiding an ever sharper decline, however would need to be enhanced significantly to be able to reverse the trend in a substantial manner”. Brand-wise, homegrown Lada keeps the lead and follows the market at -25% to 17% share above Kia (-13%) and Hyundai (-15%) both improving their market share.

Geely sales are down just 9% in Russia in July.

Renault (-35%), Toyota (-28%), Volkswagen (-34%) and Nissan (-43%) tumble down whereas UAZ completely bucks the trend with deliveries up 71% to 5.129. Newly relaunched Datsun drops two spots on June to #15, while BMW (+0.1%), Lexus (+5%) and Porsche (+19%) are among the rare manufacturers to improve year-on-year in July. In the Chinese aisle, Lifan (-26%) remains in the lead at #22 but Geely (-9%) seems to be close to stopping its fall, unlike Chery (-64%) and Great Wall (-79%) while Dongfeng, launched last February in Russia, breaks into the Top 40 for the first time at #39 with 151 sales.

The Kia Rio outsells all Ladas in Russia for the second time in the past 9 months.

The models ranking takes another fascinating and unexpected turn this month. As their scrappage scheme quotas are released and used, Lada nameplates deliver very uneven performances month after month. After beating its all-time market share in June, the Granta plunges to third place this month, its lowest ranking since July 2012, with 9.105 units and 6.9% of the market. This is the first time since the creation of the Lada brand in 1970 that no Lada occupies nor the first or the second spot in the Russian monthly sales charts. In November, it was the first time no Lada was #1… It is outsold by both the Hyundai Solaris and the Kia Rio. The Solaris is #1 for the third time in the past 7 months (and ever) after last January and May with sales up 5% to 10.251 and 7.8% share and the Kia Rio is up a splendid 34% to 9.151 units and 7% share in 2nd place.

Russian Renault Sandero sales are up 30% year-on-year in July.

Despite the depressed context, four additional nameplates gain ground year-on-year in the Top 10, making it a majority. The Lada Priora is surprisingly up 13 spots on June and 3% on July 2014 to #6 – the only other Lada in the Top 10 vs. 3 Renaults – the Toyota Camry is up 12% to #7, the Toyota RAV4 up 26% to #8 and the Renault Sandero up 30% to #10 thanks to the new generation. Sedans that hadn’t shown their bonnet in months reappear inside the Top 20 despite heavy drips: the Chevrolet Cruze (-30%) is back up to #16 while the Opel Astra (-22%) ranks 24th. The SUV resistance is still noticeable with the Nissan X-Trail up 5% to #20, the UAZ Patriot up 21% to #22, Mitsubishi Outlander up 38% to #23 and the Toyota Prado breaking into the Russian Top 25 for the very first time at #25 with 1.326 sales (-3%).

First Russian Top 20 ranking in one year for the Chevrolet Cruze.