The car market in November decreased by 2.3% compared to October

The car market in November more than doubled compared to last year, but decreased by 2.3% compared to October, Autostat reported. The drop was caused by market leader Lada, which was the only major brand to see a decline in sales, while sales of Chinese brands continued to grow. Analysts noted that the budget segment is more susceptible to changes in the market: sales could slow down amid rising prices for car loans due to an increase in the Central Bank rate.

Sales of new passenger cars in November more than doubled year on year, to 109.7 thousand units, Avtostat calculated based on PPK data. At the same time, the market fell by 2.3% by October, showing a month-on-month decline for the first time since May. It should be noted that Autostat sales data differ slightly from the information of the Ministry of Industry and Trade due to different segmentation of light commercial vehicles (LCV) – the ministry called the figure was 108.4 thousand passenger cars sold, which is 2.5% lower than October.

In general, the pace of sales in the market slowed down since the beginning of autumn against the backdrop of rising car prices due to increased recycling collection and the weakening of the ruble.

Prices have now stabilized, but the market expects the traditional update of price lists from January 1.

Remains the sales leader AvtoVAZ with stamp Lada, but its share fell over the year from 41% of the market to almost 30%. In addition, sales of the brand decreased compared to October – by 5.2%, to almost 32.7 thousand cars. AvtoVAZ itself, which uses dealer sales data and takes into account LCVs, reported sales of almost 36.1 thousand cars – this is 11.9% less than the October result announced by the company.

Lada is the only brand in the top 5 whose sales decreased in November. So, the leader among foreign cars Haval sold 14.4 thousand cars, which is 12.3% more than in October. Implementation Chery grew by 4.2%, to 11.3 thousand units, Geely – by 1.8%, to almost 10.6 thousand units, and Changan – by 3.5%, to 6.6 thousand units.

Analysts point out that the budget segment of the market is more susceptible to changes in purchasing conditions and may react more strongly to the increase in the cost of car loans due to an increase in the Central Bank rate (see “Kommersant” dated December 5). At the same time, even the restart of the preferential car loan program did not correct the situation – it acted almost the entire month of November and was focused mainly on Lada. The highest competition for buyers is concentrated in the segment above 3 million rubles, which were not covered by preferential car loans, but there are support programs from the automakers themselves.

In total, based on the results of 11 months, almost 939.3 thousand new passenger cars were sold in the Russian Federation, reports Autostat.

The market is growing by 64.9% compared to last year. The consensus forecast assumes sales at the end of 2023 at about 1 million cars. Automotive analyst Vladimir Bespalov expects sales of 1.06 million cars, based on the traditional market trend of reviving demand in December.

Olga Nikitina