French carmaker Renault is more optimistic about the Russian car market as government scrapping schemes introduced to combat a deep downturn have started to help demand, a senior executive said on Monday.
The Russian market as a whole could reach around 1.7 million units this year, Christian Esteve, head of the Eurasia management committee at Renault, told journalists on the sidelines of the Paris leg of a Franco-Russian news conference.
In November, when Renault pledged aid for struggling carmaker AvtoVAZ, maker of the Lada, in which it owns a 25 percent stake, Esteve said he thought the Russian market would total around 1.6 million units in 2010.
"Started as it has, (the market) should be a little higher," said Esteve, adding that it would be "1.7 million, not taking any risks." In April, car sales rose 20 percent after 18 months of declines, helped by economic recovery and a scrapping scheme that offers drivers 50,000 roubles to trade in 10-year-old cars for new, locally made vehicles.
Russian car sales halved in 2009 to 1.47 million units as the economy weathered its biggest contraction in 15 years.
Esteve also said that Renault intended to maintain its AvtoVAZ stake at its current level.
"We clearly said (in November) that we were at 25 percent. We intend to remain at that level," he said.
