Russia August 2017: Lada Granta snaps top spot in market up 16.7%

September 13, 2017
Matt Gasnier

The Lada Granta is #1 at home for only the 2nd time in 2017.

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

The Russian new car market is sending extremely encouraging signals so far this year: up 16.7% year-on-year to 132.742 registrations, August marks the 6th consecutive month of year-on-year gains and the 4th consecutive double-digit uptick. Year-to-date sales are now up 9.6% to 980.921. The road to recovery will however be a long one, as the 2017 YTD tally remains 7% below the 2015 total at the same stage of the year, down 38% on 2014, down 46% on 2013 and down 49% on 2012… Homegrown brands leader Lada frankly beats the market with a 25% surges to 19.7% share as does the #2 Kia up 29% to 11.3%. Hyundai trails the overall growth at +13% to 10.1% share but Renault outpaces it at +22% to 8.4%. Inside the Top 10, Nissan (+21%), Ford (+23%) and GAZ (+32%) also improve their market share year-on-year. Further down, Subaru (+26%), Mitsubishi (+33%), Chery (+51%), Peugeot (+61%), Honda (+67%), Suzuki (+82%), Citroen (+107%), Zotye (+128%), Changan (+1980%) and Foton (+5800%) are among the rare carmakers posting significant gains in a market that seems to be concentrating on the best-sellers.

The Renault Kaptur is up to a best-ever 8th place in Russia this month.

Model-wise, the valiant Lada Granta uncharacteristically soars 54% year-on-year to snap the pole post for only the 4th time in the past 12 moths (the last one was June), edging past the year-to-date leader, the Kia Rio, by just two units. In third place, the Hyundai Solaris, although trailing the market, is back in positive for the first time since February 2016. It distances the Lada Vesta (+35%) and the Hyundai Creta celebrating 13 consecutive months as Russia’s best-selling SUV. Below the Renault Duster up 1% to #7, the Renault Kaptur soars 127% to a best-ever #8 also hit last December. The Lada XRAY (+66%), Toyota RAV4 (+11%) and Chevrolet Niva (-0.2%) make it 6 SUVs in the August Top 11. The VW Tiguan is up 310% thanks to the new model and the antediluvian Lada 4×4 (aka Niva) manages to gain 12%.

The Lada 4×4 is up 12% year-on-year in August.