UPDATE: AEB: Russian car, LCV sales fall 43% to 131,572 units Nov

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MOSCOW, Dec 8 (PRIME) -- Sales of new passenger cars and light commercial vehicles (LCV) in Russia decreased 42.7% on the year to 131,572 units in November, the Association of European Businesses (AEB) said Tuesday.

“One year ago, the ruble was plummeting and customers were storming dealer showrooms to put their money to use before car prices caught up with the new exchange rate reality. None of this happened in November this year, which explains the relative deterioration in year-on-year performance of the market. The year is not over yet, however expectations regarding December are rather modest, especially in comparison with the record sales achieved last year at the peak of a short-lived sales boom,” Joerg Schreiber, chairman of the AEB Automobile Manufacturers Committee, said.

In January–November, sales of cars and LCVs in Russia fell 34.5% on the year to 1.454 million units.

Sales of Russia’s largest carmaker AvtoVAZ fell 29% on the year to 21,580 units in November, the AEB said. In January–November, the company’s car sales went down 30% to 245,634 units.

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