Russians prefer SUVs in the first quarter

In the first three months of 2020, new car sales reached 375,500 units, an increase of 2.2% over the same period of 2019.

According to Autostat (a data analysis site in Russia), in the first quarter of 2020, only two segments of SUV and B grew strongly, while the remaining cars decreased. The largest decline belongs to segment A (down 66.4%), but this number does not significantly affect the overall market, only 0.1%.

Hyundai Creta sold the most in the first quarter of 2020 in Russia. Photo: Hyundai

Traditionally, the largest segment of the Russian market is still the SUV. In the first three months of 2020, more than 183,200 crossovers and SUVs were sold, an increase of 11.6%, accounting for 48.8% of all cars sold in Russia. Specifically, Hyundai Creta led the way with 18,815 vehicles, up 12.2%. Followed by Toyota RAV4 with 11,595 units, up 96.4% and Volkswagen Tiguan sold 8,765 cars, up 20.1%.

B segment ranked third with nearly 136,000 vehicles sold, down 2.8%. Leading the segment is Lada Granta, selling 29,660 cars, up 3.6%, followed by Lada Vesta with 26,785 units, down 4%. Ranked third is Kia Rio with 22,899 vehicle sales, up 2.8%.

Ranked No. 4 is the segment D, accounting for 5.1% market share in the first quarter with sales of nearly 19,300 units, down 12% over the same period in 2019. Followed by the C segment with 16,900 vehicles, down 17.7 %. The remaining segments are less than 3% only.