Russia January 2020: Toyota up 20.4%, Haval scores once in a decade milestone in market up 1.8%

The new RAV4 helps Toyota sales up 20.4% in January.

The Russian new light vehicle market snaps a third year-on-year gain in the past 12 months in January at a timid +1.8% to 102.102 registrations, BMW and Mini year-ago volumes having been removed as the Group is now reporting sales quarterly. Lada (+1.2%) almost matches its home market’s growth to a strong 21.3% share above Kia (-4.7%) while Hyundai (+5.1%) topples Renault (+6.3%) from the monthly podium. Toyota (+20.4%) is by far the best performer in the Top 13 where it posts the only double-digit gain. Skoda (+7.4%), Mazda (+4.8%) and Mercedes (+4.6%) are the only additional Top 13 brands outpacing the market just as Mitsubishi (-26.9%) crumbles down and Volkswagen (+1.1%), UAZ (+0.1%), GAZ (-1.3%) and Nissan (-1.3%) lose some share.

Haval is inside the Top 15: a once-in-a-decade occurrence for a Chinese brand.

Soon-to-be-discontinued Datsun (+29.4%) gets a second wind thanks to hefty discounts to clear stock, but the best performer in the Russian market this month is once again Haval (+244%) cracking the Top 15 brands for the first time in history at #15. This is only the second time in the past 10 years a Chinese brand ranks inside the Russian monthly Top 15, the only other time this happened was in December 2015 (Lifan). Geely (+97%) also breaks its Russian ranking record at #19 (previous best #20 in April and May 2019) while Changan (+826.9%), Isuzu (+333.3%), Suzuki (+227.7%), Iveco (+122.2%), Smart (+93.3%), Brilliance (+77.8%), FAW (+72%), Citroen (+45.1%) and Volvo (+41.9%) fare the best among brands commanding 0.5% share or less.

The Kia Cerato scores its first Russian Top 25 finish since August 2011.

Model-wise, the Lada Granta (+11%), Vesta (+6%), Kia Rio (+0.2%) and Hyundai Creta (+28.4%) ensure the Top 4 is identical to December and FY2019, with the VW Polo (-5.7%) climbing back up 4 spots on last month to round out the Top 5. The Toyota RAV4 (+78.3%) continues to take advantage of the new generation and ranks #2 SUV in Russia for the 2nd straight month while the Kia Sportage (-8.3%) shoots up 6 spots to #8 and the VW Tiguan (+32.5%) celebrates 6 Top 10 finishes in a row. The Nissan X-Trail (+30.5%) leaps up 5 ranks on December to hit its highest ranking since May 2015 at #12, the Skoda Kodiaq (+53.3%) is up 7 to break its all-time Russian ranking record at #14 (previous best #17 last November), the Renault Duster (-24.2%) takes a deep breath before the second generation finally arrives in Russian dealerships and the Kia Cerato (+21.9%) lodges its first Top 25 finish in over 8 years – since August 2011.

Previous post: Russia Full Year 2019: Lada Granta claims first win since 2015 in plateauing market (-2.3%)

One year ago: Russia January 2019: Lada Granta leads, BMW, Hyundai and Skoda strong in market edging up 0.6%

Full January 2020 Top 55 All-brands and Top 25 models below.