GM, Ford Lose Share as Russian Vehicle Sales Plunge 10% in 2014

The outlook is for an even larger drop in 2015. The Association of European Businesses forecasts vehicle sales will total just 1.89 million this year, a drop of 24%. The group said that “a looming recession” is responsible for the dreary forecast.

That looming recession is the result of Western governments’ financial and technological sanctions against the country related to Russia’s incursion into the Crimea and Ukraine. The collapse of world oil prices has dealt the economy another nasty blow, and new sources of natural gas for Western Europe are cutting into the price that Russia can charge its largest market. The currency has all but collapsed, trading at around 64.5 to the dollar, more than double the number of rubles that would buy a dollar earlier this year. The country’s sovereign debt is just one notch above junk. A looming recession indeed.

The country’s largest auto seller is a consortium that includes Russia’s Avtovas, France’s Renault and Japan’s Nissan. The group’s market share rose slightly year-over-year, from 29.6% to 30.7%. The largest annual volume increase for a brand was scored by Nissan, with a jump of 10.7% in Nissan-branded sales and the company’s Infiniti luxury brand, for which sales rose 3.5% year-over-year to nearly 9,000 cars.

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Volkswagen holds the second largest market share in Russia, and it lost a bit of share in 2014, dropping from 10.8% to 10.5%. Every one of VW’s brands sold fewer cars in 2014 than in 2013.

Kia holds third place in the market share ranks, with 7.9% of the Russian market, up from 7.1% in 2013.

General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) ranks fourth in annual market share with 7.6%, a drop of 1.7% from its 9.3% share in 2013. Sales of every brand were down, led by Chevrolet for which sales dropped nearly 30% on an annual basis. The company’s Cadillac luxury brand saw sales drop 12.5% to just 1,324 vehicles.

Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) is fifth in market share with 7.3%, an increase of 1.2% over 2013. Sales of its Lexus luxury brand rose 21.4% to more than 19,000 vehicles.

Ford Motor Co. (NYSE: F) saw its market share drop 1.2% to just 2.6% of the Russian market. Unit sales fell 38% to just under 66,000 vehicles.

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