AvtoVAZ expects Russia’s car market at 875,000 vehicles in 2023

SOCHI, Jun 9 (PRIME) -- Russia’s market of cars and light commercial vehicles (LCVs) will not exceed 875,000 vehicles in 2023, carmaker AvtoVAZ CEO Maxim Sokolov said on Friday during an international exhibition.

In December 2022, the company expected sales of new cars and LCVs in Russia to reach only 800,000 in 2023.

“We forecast a maximum of 875,000 vehicles for the entire market this year,” he said.

The company also plans to restart production of the Lada Granta cars with the ABS system until the end of August. The carmaker is also ready to start production of the Lada Aura premium cars in 2024 if the government expands its support of the national car industry.

“We think that we will be able to launch this production only if the necessary decisions to support production of highly-localized cars are made for our country,” he said.

“We have been saying for a long time that support from the point of view of mandatory sales through state procurements is necessary, we need to expand this list by including leasing for the civil servants, and employees of budget enterprises and state corporations.”

The government could also motivate the taxi services and car sharing companies to use locally made cars, Sokolov added.

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