Ukrainian car market grows by 60% in March due to special duty on foreign cars

KYIV, April 9 /UKRINFORM/. The expected introduction of a special duty on foreign cars has increased sales of new cars in Ukraine in March 2013 to 19,000 vehicles, which was almost 60% more than in February 2013, AUTO-Consulting has reported.

"Even taking into account the seasonal activity of buyers in the first month of spring, sales of foreign cars grew by 40-70%. Such excessive demand helped the automotive industry not only reach the figures of the previous year, but also exceed them by 0.11%," reads the statement.

According to AUTO-Consulting, Hyundai was the leader in the auto market in March 2013, increasing sales by 62%. Second place went to Geely, whose buyers were most afraid of the future introduction of a special duty and guaranteed sales growth of 142%. The buyers of Kia, third in the market, are behind them. Nissan dealers also recorded an increase in sales, but the most interesting thing is that ZAZ sales grew by almost the same figures (a rise of 60%). Records were also beaten by Toyota dealers (a rise of 72%). However, Volkswagen lost second place even with 35% growth in sales.

At the same time, Russia's AvtoVAZ in March 2013 dropped to eighth position, "just a step from leaving the top ten," analysts said.

Competition has become more acute in the segment of low-cost cars. However, this segmenet saw a decline in sales, while sales of cars in the medium price segment remained at last year's level.

"The leader again changed in the premium segment - in March it was Mercedes-Benz, which could outstrip Audi. Sales of expensive cars - the fastest growing segment of the Ukrainian market - grew by 6.5% in March year-over-year," AUTO-Consulting experts said.

In 2012, sales of new cars in Ukraine shrank for the first time in three years. This figure fell by 1.38%, to 217,500.