Russia’s new car and light commercial vehicle (LCV) sales in September increased by 3.4pc to 154,409 units from 149,368 units in the prior year, but declined by 0.5pc from August, according to the Association of European Businesses (AEB).
The association said that the increase in auto sales could be due to deferred purchase demand and weakening of the Russian Ruble.
In the January-September period, Russian new auto sales declined by 13.9pc to 1,094,805 units as compared to the prior-year period.
The association said that September is traditionally a good month for the automotive business. It said that it is optimistic of a relatively stable Q4 without business limitations in the auto sector despite the worsening pandemic situation.
In July, the association had projected a decline of 23.9pc in auto sales to 1.3mn units. Now, it has revised its 2020 forecast to 1.5mn units, down by 13.5pc from 2019.