According to the data released by the Russian Federation's Federal State Statistics Service, in January-April this year Russia's passenger car output increased by 54.7 percent to 283,000 units, its truck output went up by 37.4 percent to 34,700 units, while its bus output rose by 21.1 percent to 8,800 units, all compared to the same period last year.
Meanwhile, according to AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee (AEB AMC), in the first four months of 2010 Russia's sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles decreased by 13 percent year on year to 456,200 units.
April was the first month since October 2008 to see year-on-year growth in the Russian automotive market. According to AEB AMC, in April the country's sales of new cars and light commercial vehicles increased by 20 percent year on year and by 29 percent month on month, reaching 26,991 units. Among the top ten bestselling models of passenger cars so far this year, nine are produced in Russia.
"The scrapping program, launched in early March this year revived the demand for traditional Russian vehicles. Strong sales growth is observed for the second month in a row. As regards sales of foreign cars, which do not fall under any part of the government support program for the automotive industry, a positive trend is also observed. However, despite some positive signs, it is still too early to speak of a steady sales growth tendency," AEB AMC said in its statement.