Russian car sales up 10% in June

Reuters (Moscow) - Russian car sales grew 10 percent year-on-year in June, the Association of European Businesses (AEB) said on Monday, maintaining the double digit growth that is expected to return the market to pre-crisis levels for the full year.

The figure was down slightly from the 11 percent recorded in May, but the 272,125 units sold in June was the best monthly performance since July 2008.

First-half sales for 2012 were up 14 percent year-on-year to 1.4 million units, again a four year high.

Western carmakers including General Motors, Ford , Renault and Fiat are investing heavily in Russia to take advantage of a market that is expected to overtake Germany as Europe's biggest some time this decade.

The AEB expects 2.85 million cars to be sold in Russia during 2012, around 7.5 percent up on the previous year close to pre-crisis levels.

It said it would maintain its forecast despite the record June figures, fearing a continued slowdown in the pace of growth amid uncertain economic conditions.

"We anticipate to see some more consolidation in the second half of the year, as the market stays comfortably on track to achieve full-year sales in excess of 2.8 million," the AEB's auto committee chairman Joerg Schreiber said in a statement.

Russian sales came in at 2.9 million in 2008, but halved the following year as the global financial crisis destroyed consumer demand and dried up access to credit.

Russia's flagship Lada cars were the biggest selling models in June, but continued to suffer from a slide in demand as Western models gained popularity.

General Motors' Chevrolet led the foreign-owned models with sales of more than 20,000, up 15 percent on the same month last year.