Russia September 2019: Renault (+28.2%) stuns in 7th market decline in past 8 months (-0.2%)

The new Stepway variant boosts Renault Logan sales up 178.9% in Russia.

The Russian new light vehicle market is down for the 7th time in the past 8 months in September but this time the decline is minimal at -0.2% to 157.129 units, leading to a year-to-date volume down -2% to 1.271.392. Both Lada (+1.1%) and Kia (+1.5%) defy the negative trend with small gains atop the brands ranking while Hyundai (-0.3%) is down slightly at #3. Renault (+28.2%) goes completely against the market grain and is the best performer near the top of the charts for the third month in a row, sporting the largest gain in the Top 8 in September thanks to the new Logan Stepway and Arkana. GAZ (+32.6%) and Mercedes (+16%) also shine in the remainder of the Top 10 while Volkswagen (+2.1%) is also up but Toyota (-16.3%), Skoda (-5.6%) and Nissan (-5.4%) are in difficulty. Haval (+451.6%) confirms it is the most popular Chinese brand in Russia at #20 ahead of Geely (+121.8%), Chery (+38.7%) and Changan (+117.6%) also soaring spectacularly as are FAW (+110%) and Brilliance (+216.7%) further down to the opposite of Lifan (-82.1%). Fiat (+190%), Smart (+100%), Peugeot (+44.1%), Suzuki (+30.9%) and Porsche (+19.7%) also impress further down.

Old is new: the 42 year-old Lada 4×4 hits its highest ranking in 3 years.

In the models ranking, the Lada Granta (+12.8%) continues to surf on the success of its facelift and signs a 6th consecutive monthly win, 11th in the past 13 months and 51st in total, by far the most of any nameplate in Russia over the past decade. The Granta distances the Lada Vesta (+4.4%), Kia Rio (-1.8%), Hyundai Creta (+9.1%), Solaris (-14.2%), VW Polo (+6.6%) and Lada Largus (-6.8%), exactly replicating the YTD Top 7. Ignoring its advanced age (42 years), the Lada 4×4 (+0.9%) leaps up 7 spots on August to hit #8 overall, its highest ranking in three years, since September 2016 when it also ranked #8. The Renault Logan (+178.9%) is finally taking advantage of its new Stepway variant to surge spectacularly to #10, with the Nissan Qashqai (+31.3%), Kia Sportage (+24.6%) and Mazda CX-5 (+24.2%) also very strong just as the Toyota Prado (+12.1%), returns to the Russian Top 25 for the first time since April 2018.

Previous month: Russia August 2019: Renault (+12.3%) surfs on Arkana success in market down -1.6%

One year ago: Russia September 2018: Lada Granta leads, Vesta now #1 YTD

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