Sales of new cars in Russia fell by 35.7% in 2015, according to the Automobile Manufacturers Committee (AEB). 

A total of 1.6 million new cars were sold in the country compared to nearly 2.5 million the previous year. The drop of 890,000 led the chairman of the committee, Joerg Schreiber reacting by saying it was a ‘very difficult year.’ However, he added that sales figures were higher than the 2009 crisis, were only 1.46 million cars were sold in Russia.

The hardest month of 2015 was December where sales fell 45.7% versus the same month of 2014.

The economic crisis in the country has led to a collapse in the value of the ruble, making car sales significantly less affordable to Russian buyers.

AEB are predicting another difficult year in 2016 with sales to fall again to approximately 1.53 million. The 5% fall predicted, will have nowhere near the level of impact as 2015 in terms of shaking up the industry.