| Product Code | BMI00036 |
|---|---|
| Publication Date | October 2006 |
| Publisher | Business Monitor |
| Product Type | Report |
| Pages | 97 |
With a population of 142mn and a car ownership rate of 167 vehicles per 1,000 people, Russia offers substantial automotive sales growth potential. BMI's newly released Russia Automotives Report estimates that Russian car sales totalled US$9bn in the first half of 2006, nearing the US$12.4bn achieved in the whole of 2005. Foreign brands are likely to be the chief winners in the battle to win Russian hearts and minds, with BMI projecting they will capture around 70% of the market by 2010 up from around 40% in 2005. In contrast to foreign brands, Russian producers have seen more moderate sales growth. AvtoVAZ sales rose by just 3.0% while the troubled GM-AvtoVAZ joint venture fell by 19.6%. In the light of intensive foreign investment activity over the first half of 2006, BMI forecasts passenger car output of 1.13mn units in 2006, an increase of 7.6% y-o-y, due to increased capacity and better-than-expected results by Russian carmakers. Output growth will be strong in the HCV (heavy commercial vehicle) segment and modest in the bus segment, with growth at 27.6% and 5.6% respectively in 2006-10, according to BMI forecasts.
BMI projects sales of foreign-branded cars manufactured in Russia are set to rise by 14% in 2006, given an expansion in production capacity and increased local demand. Rising income in middle-class households has led to increasing demand for better quality cars, a trend that has put Russian-owned producers at a disadvantage compared to foreign car manufacturers. Russian autos firms are, therefore, looking to form commercial deals - joint ventures and producing vehicles under licence - to modernise car production. However, autos majors are increasingly looking to setting up fully owned subsidiaries in Russia, lured by a mixture of tariff reductions on imported parts and machinery and booming demand for foreign-branded cars. The rush to invest comes ahead of Russia's entry to the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which will prevent the government from offering incentives such as the waiving of tariffs. In Q206 alone, Japan's Nissan and Germany's Volkswagen (VW) announced plans to build new automobile plants in Russia, with total investment of up to US$600mn between them. Other foreign investors include General Motors (GM), Toyota, Peugeot, VW, Renault, Isuzu, Kia and Ford with their operations mostly centred on Russia's largest European cities, Moscow and St Petersburg. All autos majors investing in Russia have witnessed a sizeable increase in demand for their vehicles.
The pressure is on Russian producers to reclaim the sales they have lost to foreign brands. Russia's largest manufacturer AvtoVAZ has witnessed a revival in sales since it was taken over by state-owned arms dealer Rosoboronexport in December 2005 and guaranteed US$5bn in state aid for an expanded range of models and increased production targets. AvtoVAZ is seeking expansion through acquisitions. The carmaker's strategy, including its planned launch of budget models in the EU, carries high risks but represents its best hope for revival. In the commercial vehicles segment, KAMAZ (Kamskiy Avtomobilny Zavod and GAZ (Gorkovsky Avtomobilny Zavod) are buoyed by rising sales and are seeking to expand production abroad.
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