Russia February 2019: Lada Granta up 54.1% to tighten domination in first market decline in 2 years

Lada Granta sales soar 54.1% year-on-year thanks to its facelift.

After seeing its growth slim down to just +0.6% in January, the inevitable happens in Russia in February: with registrations down 3.6% to 128.406 units, this marks the first year-on-year decline in exactly two years, since February 2017, ending 24 consecutive months of year-on-year gains. The year-to-date tally is now also down at -1.8% to 231.470. A recent 2% rise of the VAT for cars in the country may have contributed to this tilt into negative, just as consumer confidence had been dropping for several months. Local association AEB says the present outlook isn’t strong and recently announced government measures in support of car purchases for young families are too limited in scope to make a fundamental difference,  which means the Russian market could fall into recession this year. Brand-wise, homegrown leader Lada (-1.4%) once again outpaces the market to hold a sturdy 21% share both this month and YTD, with Kia (-0.4%) holding even better at 13.8% share and Hyundai (+6.1%) posting a solid gain in third place with 11.1% of the market.

Mitsubishi (+25.5%), Toyota (+8.3%), Volkswagen (+3.9%) and Skoda (+0.6%) are also in positive in the remainder of the Top 10 just as Renault (-24.6%) stumbles down and GAZ (-5.8%) and Nissan (-2.5%) are much more muted in their fall. Below, Volvo (+112.2%), Subaru (+23.4%), BMW (+20%), Land Rover (+17.5%), Mercedes (+10.2%) and Mazda (+8.2%) impress near the top. There’s a lightning strike among Chinese carmakers present in Russia: for the first time in history, Haval (+246.5%) is the most popular at #23 and 0.4%), edging past Geely (+367.3%) for just 9 sales whereas perennial leader Lifan (-59.3%) is in dire straits just above Chery (-0.5%). Among smaller brands, Genesis (+272.7%), Jeep (+87.1%), Brilliance (+83.3%),  Isuzu (+58.8%), Cadillac (+27%), Porsche (+22.2%) and Mini (+21.4%) stand out.

Model-wise, the facelifted Lada Granta (+54.1%) shows outstanding strength and tightens its grip on the ranking with a 4th consecutive win, 5th in the past 6 months and 45th in total. The Lada Vesta (-5.9%), leader over the Full Year 2018, is well and truly defeated in 2nd place. In fact the Top 6 is unchanged on January with the Kia Rio (-20.9%), Hyundai Creta (+2.5%), Solaris (-3.3%) and VW Polo (-2.5%) in tow. The Toyota Camry (+38.6%) signs the 2nd largest year-on-year gain in the Top 10 at #8 whereas the Skoda Rapid (-11.8%) and Lada Largus (-9.9%) struggle. Just outside the Top 10, the VW Tiguan (-2.4%) is up 5 spots on last month to #11, while the Hyundai Tucson (+62.8%), Nissan X-Trail (+34.5%) and Mitsubishi Outlander (+21.4%) show us the SUV trend is alive and kicking in Russia and the Kia Optima (+39.4%) and Cee’d (+18%) also impress in the remainder of the Top 25.

Previous month: Russia January 2019: Lada Granta leads, BMW, Hyundai and Skoda strong in market edging up 0.6%

One year ago: Russia February 2018: Kia Rio reclaims top spot in market up 24.7%

Full February 2019 Top 53 All-brands and Top 25 models below.