Ukraine Full Year 2018: First win for the Renault Duster in plateauing market

The Renault Duster is the most popular vehicle in Ukraine for the first time.

Consult almost 50 years of Ukrainian Historical Data here.

The Ukrainian new car market recovery ended prematurely in 2018 as a 23.3% drop in December sends the market into negative at -0.4% to 81.877 registrations after gains in 2016 (+41%) and 2017 (+25.3%) failed to compensate for ghastly results in 2014 (-54%) and 2015 (-52%). Ukrainian sales reached 213.000 units in 2013 and 623.000 in 2008. Toyota (+4%) holds onto the brands pole position, improving its share to 12.3% above Renault (+0.6%) and Volkswagen (-5.2%) in a podium unchanged on 2017. Nissan (+28.1%) surges up 3 spots to #4, toppling Skoda (-4.8%) with Hyundai (+14.3%) and Mazda (+13.1%) also making waves in the Top 10 and Audi (+3.4%) snapping the premium crown off Mercedes (-8.4%) and BMW (-24.2%). Tesla (+294.4%), Chery (+91.3%), Honda (+73.3%), JAC (+53.2%), Porsche (+36.1%), Fiat (+28.9%), Geely (+27.8%), Subaru (+23.4%), Peugeot (+16.2%), Lexus (+14%) and Citroen (+13.8%) all post very impressive gains in the Top 40 whereas ZAZ (-68.3%), Seat (-62%), Smart (-47.9%), UAZ (-46.9%) and Ravon (-45.3%) all dive.

Over in the models ranking, the Renault Duster (+15.8%) is boosted by the new generation to its first annual win in Ukraine, overtaking the Kia Sportage (-15.8%) leader in 2016 and 2017. The Toyota RAV4 (-5.2%) edges up to #3 to make the Ukrainian podium 100% SUV for the first time in history. The Toyota Camry (+43.7%) is lifted by the new model to #1 passenger car in the country, toppling the Renault Logan (-14.9%). The Nissan Qashqai (+44.7%), Nissan X-Trail (+33.1%), VW Polo (+27.1%) and Hyundai Tucson (+20.9%) also post fantastic scores in the remainder of the Top 10 that now counts 6 SUVs. Further down, the Lexus NX (+225.2%), Hyundai Elantra (+65.7%), Skoda Kodiaq (+61.1%), Kia Rio (+59%), Audi A3 (+58.8%, imported from the US) and Toyota Prado (+52.3%) also stand out.

Previous month: Ukraine November 2018: Renault, Nissan, Kia shine in third consecutive market decline

Previous year: Ukraine 2017: Kia Sportage and Renault Duster top market up 25%

Two years ago: Ukraine 2016: Kia Sportage takes the lead in recovering market (+41%)

Full Year 2018 Top 68 All-brands and Top 440 All-models vs. Full Year 2017 figures below.

Full December 2018 Top 50 All-brands and Top 270 All-models below.