Ukraine Q1 2016: Lada 4×4 shoots up to #1 in market up 58% on ’15 but down 68% on ’14 (BSCB Exclusive)

The Lada 4×4 is the best-selling nameplate in Ukraine so far in 2016.

* See the Top 52 All-brands and Top 258 All-models by clicking on the title *

It would appear that the Ukrainian new passenger car market, brought to a standstill by the Crimean crisis, has now bottomed up. January sales are up 22% to 3.183, February up 44% and March up 117%, leading to first Quarter volumes up 58% to 12.286. Before rushing to the champagne glasses, let’s point out this result roughly corresponds to January 2014 sales (11.875) and represents a 68% drop on the same period in 2014 – see below for more detail. Toyota leads the brands ranking with 10.2% share, edging past Renault (9.8%) in March with Nissan (6.7%) and Volkswagen (5.6%) following. Russian make Lada returns to the top of the charts at #5 with 5.4% share vs. #16 over FY15 while reversely, homegrown ZAZ plunges from #3 and 6.2% share in FY15 to #13 and 3.6% in Q1 of this year.

Toyota is the #1 manufacturer in Ukraine and the RAV4 was #1 in January. 

The models ranking is reshuffled by what could be described as a “Back to basics” trend that potentially has its roots in military equipment. The Lada 4×4 (aka Niva) leads by just two units with 418 sales, knocking 2015’s leader, the Renault Logan, down to #2 even though it hasn’t ranked #1 in any month so far. The Toyota RAV4 led sales charts in January and the Toyota Corolla did so in February and March: they respectively rank 3rd and 4th year-to-date. It is unclear whether new car sales in Russia-occupied parts of Ukraine are accounted for in official Ukrainian statistics. Other improving nameplates include the Renault Duster up to #5, the Nissan X-Trail up to #9, Mercedes GLE up to a fantastic 11th place, Suzuki Vitara up to #12, Audi Q7 up to #19 and Hyundai Tucson up to #20.

Previous post: Ukraine Full Year 2015: Renault Logan triumphs, market down 52%

Full Q1 2016 Top 52 All-brands and Top 258 All-models below.