The Russian car market has fallen by 60% this year after most European and American brands stopped selling new cars there. The Chinese partially displaced French and German brands, and Lada Niva and Granta became the best-selling models in the Russian Federation.

The Russian market fell 60% in nine months, from 1.26 million units in 2021 to 500,000 vehicles in 2022. In September, which is considered a good month compared to the previous ones, the total number of cars was 46,000. The data was published by AEB – Association of European Business.

Lada occupied more than 40% of the market last month, followed by Hyundai and local brand GAZ. The top ten included three Chinese brands: Haval, Geely and Changan. While the market is down 60% compared to September 2021, the Haval brand is down just 2% and Geely is down just 14%.

On the other hand, Toyota fell 98%, Volkswagen and Skoda fell 90%, Renault 82%, Kia 81% and Nissan 93%. At Audi, the reduction was 95%, at Suzuki – 93%.

In the first nine months of the year, Lada found 123,000 buyers, compared to 268,000 in January-September 2021. Kia came in second with 56,000 vehicles, nearly three times less than in 2021. Renault had just 32,000 customers compared to almost 100,000, while Skoda fell from 72,000 to 16,000.

The best-selling car in Russia this year is Lada Granta – 54,000 units, and Lada Vesta found 26,000 buyers. Renault Duster sold 11,000 units, up from 30,000 in 2021.

Renault Logan had less than 8,000 buyers, three times less than in 2021. A Chinese SUV called the Haval Jolion has performed very well in recent months. Another Chinese model that has come into fashion is Geely Coolray.