www.gochinaauto.com-According to data released by the association of European Business(AEB), the sales of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles(LCVs) in Russia decreased 49% in 2009,which was 1.47 million units.

All brands suffered in the market shrink caused by the severe economic recession that followed the onset of the international financial crisis in late 2008.

Russian national brands AutoVAZ and GAZ decreased by 44%,56% respectively, and AutoVAZ kept the crown of largest car manufacturer in Russia, and sold 346,490 units, and its lada car occupied the top 4 best-sales car models. GAZ the second domestic automaker of Russia sold 58,205 units, and ranked No.10 in 2009.

Among foreign-branded vehicles, GM ranked No.2 with a sales of 141,695,decreasing by 58%;VW ranked No.3 with a sales of 94,018, decreasing by 28%; KIA ranked No.8, which was the brand with the slightest drop in 2009.

Total auto production in Russia fell by 59.7 percent in 2009, ASM-Holding, which tracks the auto industry, said in a report Thursday. Passenger car output declined by 59.4 percent, to 596,857 units, of which 53 percent were Russian brands. Production of domestic brand cars fell by 63.9 percent, while production of foreign brands dropped 52.7 percent, the report said.

"It is encouraging to see a slight improvement in December sales with a decline of only 38% compared to a full year drop of 49%. December has traditionally been a very strong month for car sales and I hope to see this positive development continue into 2010," said David Thomas, AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee's Chairman.

However, Industry experts do not expect any recovery in 2010, and AEB expects total annual sales of 1.4 million to 1.5 million cars and light trucks, with growth occurring in the second half of the year, Martin Jahn, the committee’s deputy chief, said in the report. “The prognosis is rather optimistic and counts on measures like subsidized loans and cash-for-clunkers initiatives to be effective,” he said.

Russian carmakers are not as pessimistic about 2010, with GAZ Group president Bo Andersson hoping for 13 percent growth, he told Reuters this week.

source:AEB